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Judging Amy
Hard to Get (3/8/05)
Happy Birthday (2/22/05)
5th season in review
Shock and Awe, 05/13/03
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Holiday Meanderings Part II, Tuesday
Whining Part III, Tuesday
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Judging Amy: Hard to Get (3/8/05)
Tuesday 03.08.2005
alice ttlg || 09:29 PM
Yup, that's done. Bored now. I'm not sticking around for the Graciela crusade and everything else is just boring. If they'd had the guts to let her have the baby (especially since the actress is pregnant too), let her marry David, go for a different direction with her personal life instead of repeating how it's been for the last six years, it would have been worth sticking around.
Judging Amy: Happy Birthday (2/22/05)
Thursday 03.03.2005
alice ttlg || 07:48 PM
Damn shame they wimped out on the pregnancy - I was looking forward to seeing her cope with it, dealing with job and baby and so on. I like Adrian Pasdar as her love interest - at least I did till they sort of wrote it off lately. I wish they'd make him a regular cast member and let them get married. It's time to let her move on from being the divorced mom.
Judging Amy: 5th season in review
Tuesday 06.01.2004
alice ttlg || 10:20 PM
Five years and doing pretty good, especially if I ignore the 4th season and if Vincent is really back to stay, the 6th season will be even better!
The fourth season was not very good, I didn't care at all for Stuart and the whole romance. Thank goodness Amy walked out on at the alter.
Adrian Pasdar as David McLaren is a much better love interest, albeit a little overdramatic at times with his murdered wife and all. But the character fits Amy much better and I hope they continue on the track to getting married eventually. (Plus I love Adrian Pasdar, he's a really good actor, I loved him as pure evil in Profit and goofy professor in Mysterious Ways.)
The Peter/Jillian breakup was really quite bizarre but I like Peter's new persona, playing in a band and all. Now if they'd just write Jillian out, I am tired of her yo-yo-ing and whining diva behavior.
And Vincent! Gosh I hope he's really back, he's been sorely missed and it'd be interesting to see Kyle and him together.
But Maxine's romance, yechh. Cheech Marin is an excellent actor but this whole hispanic gardner as rich guy with big house is really quite silly. You literally see the writers carefully following the political correctness lines, trying so hard to be non-stereotypical it's painful to watch. And there is zippo chemistry between them. There wasn't much chemistry with Richard Crenna either but it was not as forced as it is with Cheech Marin. I really wish they'd get some normal type guy for her, why do they feel it's necessary to go to extremes for Maxine? First a fabulously wealthy millionaire, now a rich hispanic gardner, Maxine is a down to earth person, it'd make much more sense for her to fall for someone who has similar passions about helping people, they could even make it someone younger than her if they wanted an extreme, but so far neither of these romances has really worked well, at least in my eyes.
But on the whole, the fifth season was pretty good. I liked Amy's foray into the big-time criminal courts and her realization that being a family court judge is her first best destiny. (Plus it meant she could date David!) Lauren's growing up nicely and they've handled her transition to teenager well. Kyle -- there's an up in the air situation, they could either ruin his character next season or make it much better. I hope they keep Buck around awhile, he's cute!
[Renee adds] I think Amy belongs with Bruce and it's time the writers pursued that relationship. I hear that Amy B. fired the writers so maybe they will go in that direction. (July 18, 2004 07:23 PM)
[Sandy adds] I agree with Renee-Bruce and Amy would be a great story line. (September 11, 2004 10:28 PM)
[Nanette adds] I don't think Bruce and Amy would be a good match. Bruce has only dated black women on the show and has told Amy why he wouldn't have a relationship with a white woman. Why would he say this if it wasn't so? It's so obvious to me that Bruce would not be comfortable in a relationship with Amy. When he's stressed he takes it out on her - I don't see that as a good sign. (September 13, 2004 03:45 AM)
[Joanne adds] I think that David brings out aspects in Amy's character that strengthen her as a woman. She is able to fight for what she believes in and yet get in touch with her need to be in control. Plus, Amy and David have incredible chemistry together. Bruce's on a friendship level is a good match for Amy. (December 28, 2004 01:58 PM)
Judging Amy: Shock and Awe, 05/13/03
Saturday 05.17.2003
alice ttlg || 08:22 PM
Someone please stop any more TV shows from playing Aimee Mann's Wise Up song, please!
It just felt completely wrong for the last scenes of this show, this is a family that has stuck together and made it thru all sorts of stuff and the last thing any of them would be saying, even at this point, is "give up". It was just completely wrong for this show. Play something sad, yes, some sort of goodbye song, but not this "give up, life sucks, everyone dies and you should just lay down and die" thing.
Eesh. Another show with a bizarro ending. And the idea that there has to be this trade off, that Gillian had to die so the baby could be heallthy and whole, ick. I really liked Gillian, she was a good non-blood relative so she didn't have to have any of the family traits and she was a good foil for Amy, the stay-at-home to Amy's working mom and the actress handled the part very well.
Now I guess we'll have Peter as the dad trying to take care of the two kids and work and everything and mom will pitch in and all that.
The legal plot line of the finale was strange too, Tim Daly appearing from out of nowhere but he's supposed to have been around before? Everyone knows him, knows what he's like, all that but we've never seen him before, they really could have done a better lead-in, should have had him show up a few eps ago to build up to the finale ep.
So, one more show with a bizarro season finale.
[Helen Mastromatteo adds] I did not know that you killed Gillian.I am very sad about that,she was a beautiful character and very important to the balance of the show. When we lost Gillian a lot of the show was lost with her. All of the cast is important to make it great with the one exception of Amy's daughter who I find annoying. (February 11, 2004 01:47 PM)
2003-2004 Season, CSI, CSI: Miami, Cold Case, Judging Amy, The District, The Handler, Without a Trace: CBS
Wednesday 05.14.2003
MattM || 08:56 PM
Click the Spoilers Link below for my thoughts on the upcoming season for CBS:
...there be spoilers below...
Monday
Leads off with three sitcoms that I don't get, don't like, and don't find funny Yes, Dear, Still Standing, and Everybody Loves Raymond (with that contract who can blame them!! It is then followed by the new sit com Two & a Half Men staring a load of really solid actors, Charlie Sheen, John Cryer, and Blythe Danner. That being said the concept is just so mundane and been there done that about 5,000 times. Just because you have great actors does not mean I want to the 10 million reincarnation of the same show. Lastly is the disappointing CSI:Miami. I really hope it pulls itself together in its second season but its on a short leash for me. If it continues to be as bad as it was in its first season I am going to stop watching after three episodes.Tuesday
Anchoring a very stable Tuesday with two shows that are geared to the other gender at 8 and 9 are Guardian and Judging Amy and since I am the wrong gender I think both shows suck. Leading off the night is the Jag spinoff NCIS or the gay police as we used to call them back in my Navy days. This organization will no doubtly be potrayed as heroic and wonderful when in fact its ruthless and often has no trouble killing someones career with little or no proof. Still it has two strong male leads in Harmon and Weatherly so even though it is a spin off of that even more horrible show JAG I will give it at least a one watch just to check it out.Wednesday
This night starts at 8 with King of Queens which I will always remember as the show that started with an all black family then was redone with an all white family. It is followed by yet another stinker of a show by the creators of Will & Grace (like thats some sort of great pedigree). It stars Judith Light one of the better actors on TV period but even that won't save this sinking Stones (sorry couldn't help that pun). Lastly the new David Kelly show, The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire or from hereafter referred to as TBOP because I am not typing that stupid long ass title. TBOP is a clone of Picket Fences and has what is probably the one of the top casts on TV (at least on paper). Undoubtly TBOP will soar to great heights and so I will watch it but just as sure as I am of that it will undoubtly bottem out in either the second or third season.Thursday
Not a bunch to comment here since there is no new shows. CSI and Without A Trace are very good one-two punch and look forward to season two on both.Friday
This night might compete with ABC for worst night on TV. Staring with the new drama Joan of Arcadia about a teenager who sees and talks to God. And Agency got cancelled for this??????? I won't say anymore or I will throw a fit heretofore not seen since Joss Whedon walked out on the 100th Buffy celebration. It is followed by that most unrealistic show (including Fastlane) on TV, JAG. I hate that show because as bad as NCIS is the JAG core in the Navy is really amazing and the job they do is not done 1/10th the justice it deserves by this show. Lastly is The Handler. It has a great lead in Joe Pantoliano but the rest of the cast looks very shaky but still it has potential but its either going to be great or going to suck something awful.Saturday
The only network running a full slate on Saturdays and my show is no longer here. Leading off the night is Hack about a taxi cab driving cab fighter. Ok I think I would rather watch Joan of Arcadia then that. District is just about as bad as that with it is Craig Nelson who when properly reigned in is terrific but when let loose to run amock you get the things like Harry and the Hendersons.Sunday
Sunday has only one show on it and thats the new show Cold Case. I think this show could be really good if they delve in the character driven show side instead of just the standard fair of cop shows. That being said this is not what Jerry Bruckheimer produces. So I think it will be solid to good I think its just going to be another Without A Trace, CSI, CSI:Miami show but of those he has only done one really well and adding a fourth does not give me a whole lot of confidence.2003-2004 Season, CSI, CSI: Miami, Cold Case, Judging Amy, NCIS, The District, The Handler, Without a Trace: CBS' lineup
Wednesday 05.14.2003
alice ttlg || 07:30 PM
CBS put their fall lineup up today, the first network to offer some new shows that I'm actually interested in watching....
...there be spoilers below...
Sunday
First new one up is Cold Case on Sunday and it suddenly hit me where I knew that name from! There's a Canadian show by that name and the same premise (iirc), Peter Wingfield was on it for a season, I think and I watched it some, it was very Britishy tho and not very good I thought. This American version offers a not very well known cast and it's by Jerry Bruckheimer so it looks to be a sort of Without A Trace clone. This make four cop shows for Jerry Bruckheimer and Dick Wolf has four cop shows too, I'm not crazy about so many cop shows, give me some variety in themes! and even less crazy about eight cop shows from two producers, too much all the same all the time. Whatever happened to originality? Oops, I forgot that TPTB erased that word from their dictionaries. The remaining items on CBS on Sunday are 60 Minutes and movies.Monday
Here CBS is sticking to pretty much the same thing, sitcoms and CSI: Miami. There's one new sitcom but I won't bother to talk about it since it sounds atrocious. I stopped watching CSI: Miami months ago, too many bad episodes and not enough good ones, it's a very pale imitation of the original CSI.Tuesday
The Guardian and Judging Amy were renewed and still in their regular time slots, at 7pm, there's the Jag spinoff, NCIS and gah! I would have absolutely no interest in this show but I just noticed that Michael Weatherly from Dark Angel is in it! Eep! I might actually, um, er, watch an episode or two....it's a rerun for Mark Harmon, he already played a Navy criminal investigator, in the Presidio, with Sean Connery and Meg Ryan, he might not be toooooo bad, but we'll see.Wednesday
Here we have 60 Minutes II and two sitcoms, one new and also sounding atrocious and then at 9pm, we have one of the few new shows I'm looking forward to, The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire. It's got quite a cast, Randy Quaid, Mare Winningham, Elizabeth McGovern and Ann Cusack. It's produced by David Kelley, looks like he's redoing his old Picket Fences show. I'll give it a whirl, Kelley's shows are good the first year or two and I liked Picket Fences. Plus it's NOT a cop show!Thursday
No changes here, Survivor at 7 (I don't watch reality shows), then CSI and Without A Trace at 8 and 9.Friday
Here we've got a ridiculous premise in Joan of Arcadia, a teenager who sees God in different forms each week, thanks much, I think I'll pass...JAG at 8 and then The Handler, Joe Pantoliano training impossibly young and pretty looking FBI agents, obviously nothing approaching reality here.Saturday
Nothing new here, just reshuffled shows, 48 Hours, Hack and The District. (Someone please tell me why Hack is still on the air??? Taxi driver as crime fighter, sheesh.)So, not too much here, except for the one new show I'm giving a green to, Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire.
[jerry adds] TBOP: If you do not like this show then you do not deserve to watch prime time tv. You see, we wait all season for an all-star cast and script...then it gets delivered; and, you know who you are; complain about the lack of creativity and want to run a genius like D. Kelly out of town. You just remember that when all that is left in prime time is the reality show line up... now thats original. Keep this show on the network and make it mandatory that a minimum IQ of 65 is required to view it....oh wait...there goes 75% of the national tv audience out the door to watch fear factor! (October 30, 2003 12:43 AM)
[bo adds] I came upon your website to find out cbs fall lineup 2004-2005, Boy was I surprised to see what you wrote about "HACK" I hope you get to see what a great show it truly is .Why?It's a show that you can watch with your family ,a show that has great actors, great writters and a great look about it. Yes I do think they can improve with a love interest thats why a third season is needed.I do hope "HACK" comes back. (May 9, 2004 09:47 AM)
[jo adds] I missed the last episode of The Handler....can somebody fill me in? (June 2, 2004 04:01 PM)
[alice ttlg adds] I never watched it so I haven't a clue and the show was cancelled so I'm not sure it matters anyway. If you go to TVTome (http://www.tvtome.com/Handler/guide.html ), they do have info about each ep there, including the last two unaired eps. (June 5, 2004 10:37 AM)
[Annette adds] I for one am very angry they cancelled Hack and The District. Every time a decent showed is started, it is yanked off the air! Why? Why? In the midst of all these vile, graphic and horrid shows, why can't we have a splash of decent material to watch??? (December 21, 2004 09:20 AM)
2003-2004 Season, Boomtown, Crossing Jordan, ER, Ed, Frasier, Friends, Happy Family, Judging Amy, Las Vegas, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: SVU, Lyon's Den, Third Watch: NBC's schedule...
Monday 05.12.2003
alice ttlg || 04:36 PM
Eeeesh. ALL the descriptions on the NBC site for the new shows are so dripping with marketing-speak, they are truly horrendous! Badly written, overblown and thoroughly sensationalized. Ack.
See the show grid for the NBC Fall Preview and click on the spoiler link below to read the rest of my comments.
...there be spoilers below...
Sunday
Hmmm, looks like I may not be watching NBC at all on Sundays, I never watched American Dreams (useless glamorized nostalgia), L&O: CI was good sometimes but usually bad more than good and so uneven, I got tired of wasting time watching it hoping it would be good. And Lyon's Den sounds so unbelievable and soap-opera-ish, in spite of a few good people in the cast, it hardly seems worth watching. Matt Craven is good, I first saw him years ago in High Incident, a terrific cop drama with a great cast that got cancelled after one season. Frances Fisher, I've seen her in other things, can't recall what right now but I think she's good too. But Rob Lowe's character....eesh. Yeah sure, the managing partner dies and they decide to pick a young guy running their street law clinic to bump all the way up to managing partner overnight??? Why don't they throw in a bridge for sale while they're at it?Monday
Fear Factor, I don't watch reality shows. 'nuff said.Tuesday
Whoopi, Happy Family, again the descriptions are really badly written, but I like Whoopi, if they don't overdo the one-liners, it could be good and John Larroquette and Christine Barranski sound like a good match, they could really make the show good, but the kids sound atrocious. I'll give them both a chance since I'm taping Frasier at 8pm anyway. I'll skip Good Morning, Miami tho just like I did when it was on Thursdays too, I've never cared for Heather Locklear in comedic roles. L&O:SVU at 9pm, hmmm. So now I'll have three mediocre shows to watch at 9pm on Tuesdays, Judging Amy, NYPD Blue and SVU. I'm about to stop watching NYPD Blue tho because they've totally massacred Connie's character, done a complete 180 on her this season, taken her from being a strong female cop, able to hold her own in the squad to this wimpy nagging thing with a father fixation for Andy, the whole Andy/Connie/baby plot line just makes me gag. Judging Amy is still good tho, I think I'll skip both SVU and Blue and just watch Amy.Wednesday
Er, didn't NBC move Ed to Fridays? Why are they moving it back? Just couldn't find anything better to put there??? West Wing could really start sucking next year with Aaron Sorkin and Tommy Schlamme leaving, but I'll keep watching and see how it goes. I dropped L&O ages ago, they stopped doing all the stuff that made it so good the first six or seven years.Thursday
Friends, Scrubs, Will & Grace, Coupling, the last one sounds terrible and I have no interest in it but I think it will do fantastic, it'll fit right in with the other shows and get good ratings. But I never liked Scrubs and Will & Grace went to hell in a handbasket two seasons ago. Friends has been pretty bad this year, I guess I'll stick it out thru their last year but I don't have any expectation that it'll improve. ER was pretty bad too this last year, it's been renewed for two more years, I dunno, maybe it's time to start watching CSI and Without a Trace instead of taping them.Friday
Miss Match could actually be pretty good, the plot is reminiscent of Clueless and if they do it right, it could work. And there's nothing else to watch on Fridays (I want my John Doe!) while waiting for Boomtown in L&O: SVU's old time slot.Saturday
Nothing but movies here, but the rumor is that Crossing Jordan will go here at 9pm when it returns mid-season, that's the kiss of death for it. And what happened to the spin-off for Woody?It's interesting to note that NBC only has six new shows, they're keeping most stuff, I suspect all the other networks will have more new shows than NBC. Overall, best shows on NBC are Boomtown and, and...well, Boomtown. West Wing, Third Watch and ER are iffy but the sitcom lineup on Tuesdays could be good.
[MattM adds] Forgot to comment on Las Vegas and Third Watch there but did comment on Fear Factor coming back for its third season hmmm interesting should I take this as a slight to Third Watch and Las Vegas? Also your right what did happen to the Crossing Jordan spin off???? Man it must have stunk BAD to not even get a nod either that or they plan on putting both on Saturday nights in mid season HAHAHA (May 12, 2003 11:23 PM)
[ValB adds] What the heck happened to Kingpin? It really was must see TV for me! (May 14, 2003 10:36 AM)
[MattM adds] Well either its a mid season replacement or its gone completly. I tend to think its gone because I haven't word one about it. (May 14, 2003 10:59 AM)
[hammerdown415 adds] I love Crossing Jordan and I was looking into the same field of work. I hate that they took it off of the air. But Jordan Cavanaugh is pregnant in real life and I would want some time off to stay home and be with my newborn. I am just glad that it will return. Maybe one of these lame new shows will hit bottom and it will be returned to the weeknight schedule. (October 14, 2003 08:31 PM)
[LUCY adds] While I like Law and Order SVU I beieve it could be better if they stick to the format of the show, SVU means Special Victims Unit about sexually based crimes and sometimes some of the stories do not have a sex crime in them, also I believe it could be better if they get rid of the new ADA Casey Novak, she is as bad as the one on the regular Law and Order (March 10, 2004 03:40 PM)
[Jim Smith adds] I really enjoyed Lyon's Den. Too bad they did not give it the time to develop. (July 14, 2004 08:15 PM)
2002-2003 Season, 24, Buffy, Frasier, Haunted, Hidden Hills, Judging Amy, Smallville: Holiday Meanderings Part II, Tuesday
Sunday 12.08.2002
alice ttlg || 10:35 PM
Tuesday
Sitcoms: In-Laws, Just Shoot Me, Frasier, Hidden Hills. I thought I'd hate In-Laws and love Hidden Hills but the opposite happened, Hidden Hills got mired down in the voiceover and baby boomer introspection while In-Laws used some great comedic actors and a more current (and toned down) version of All in the Family. Life with Bonnie was so awful I couldn't stand to watch it after one ep although I did catch two more eps in reruns on the Family Channel but they were even worse. Damn shame, Bonnie Hunt is a great comedian but she needs the right part, she's better as a straight man than a lead. And Just Shoot Me, I used to love this show but they lost me at the beginning of the season, threw in new characters and I lost track of what was going on and then lost interest, it's jumped the shark very quickly this year, tired writing, recycled jokes, yuck. Buffy, started off slow this year, the first half dozen eps didn't have much an emotional impact for me (reminded me of the beginning of 4th season, her first year at college) but the Spike stuff is terrific (and no, Matt, I'm not talking about Spuffy love! that is gone for good, I think) and the plot is picking up nicely now. There's been a few missteps tho, Willow's line about killing Anya was really jarring, considering her killing Warren last year and Buffy just took it as a normal thing to say but it was really out of place. 8pm blockbusters, 24, Guardian and Smallville: 24's been so-so this year, lots of repetition and Kim drove me nuts last year already so she's three times as annoying this year. She gets my award for "Character you most want to bash with a baseball bat". Guardian...this show had a wonderful edge last year, Nick's relationship with his dad really fueled the show and that's mostly resolved now so some of the edge is gone. I'm really glad they didn't have Lulu take the easy way out and get a divorce right away but her long-suffering attitude about her creep of a husband is getting annoying. Smallville, good but it's having a slow start, not as edgy as last year, there's been some good eps and I do like Chloe and Lana living together but they need to give us something. After the first season finale, I was expecting them to reveal something about where he comes from and we got absolutely nothing, they need to give us something, doesn't have to be big, but Something! Haunted, lived down to my expectations of being atrocious (my brother and I really differ on this one! :)) 9pm leftovers, Judging Amy and NYPD Blue, Judging Amy has been good, dealt realistically (well, up till the very end) with a stalker, NYPD Blue has done a complete 180 from last year, going from really great to really yucky, turning into Andy the bigot cop beating up on suspects while John stands around watching and the Andy/Connie thing still grosses me out.[MattM adds] In regards to Haunted you never gave it chance it started out rocky but really kicked into gear about the third or fourth episode. Judging the show from one or two episodes was meaningless because that was before the show found its gear. (December 9, 2002 12:12 AM)
2002-2003 Season, 24, Buffy, Frasier, Haunted, Hidden Hills, Judging Amy, Smallville: Whining Part III, Tuesday
Friday 09.06.2002
alice ttlg || 06:12 PM
Tuesday
Well, this used to be a night packed full of all kinds of really great shows, now it's sort of a jumbled mess and still too many things on at 8pm to tape all at once. Sitcoms: In-Laws, Just Shoot Me, Frasier, Hidden Hills on NBC and Life with Bonnie on ABC. In-Laws and Hidden Hills are just filler, Just Shoot Me is okay, Frasier is one of my two absolutely favorite sitcoms (the other being Friends) and I love Bonnie Hunt, so I'm hoping her show turns out good. Buffy, still one of the best shows around and it looks like they'll build up to a blockbuster ending with Faith showing up for five eps on Buffy and three eps on Angel near the end of the upcoming season. I don't know what happens after this year, I'm not that interested in "Dawn the Vampire Slayer", I would love to see "Faith the Vampire Slayer" but I doubt we'll get that, Eliza Dushku is more interested in movies right now (and getting bigger parts finally!) 8pm blockbusters, 24, Guardian and Smallville: This is VCR killer time! It'll be interesting to see what they do with 24, will they change the credits voiceover to something more reasonable? Or will it be "the second longest day of his life"? Guardian, this show just keeps getting better and better, I usually watch something else and tape this and watch a bunch of eps all at once and I always go "wow", lots of layers, lots of great people in the cast, Dabney Coleman is a more realistic version of Lionel Luther, the harsh father who lets out a bit of feeling every now and then and then goes back to pushing his son relentessly. Simon Baker walks a fine line, revealing just enough of his character's repressed emotions so that we know how much his father can and has hurt him over the years, then closing up again and showing that invulnerable facade that Nick hides behind. And Smallville, best superhero show around, all the standard comic book characters and story lines but with all the heart and youthful hormones necessary to bring it to life. Haunted, I dunno, this really looks atrocious but I will probably watch a few eps at least since it's on after Buffy. 9pm leftovers, Judging Amy and NYPD Blue, Amy's one of my favorite prime-time soaps, nice blend of soap and legal drama with Tyne Daly serving as a strong counterpoint to Amy's yuppie whinings. NYPD Blue, wow, such an improvement last year with the addition of Mark-Paul Gosselaer! I had pretty much given the show up for dead with Jimmy Smits and then Rick Schroder's disappointing run but last year turned everything around and it's almost as good as the first year! The new lieutenant played excellently by Esai Morales and the two new female characters, Charlotte Ross and Jacqueline Obradors have brought so much life to the show. I like Kim Delaney and I really miss Philly but I'm glad she's not coming back to NYPD Blue, her character had really run its course and to bring her back now would be a bad thing.| Home |