TV Talk: Levi Johnston Eyes Mayor’s Office, Ricky Gervais Says No to The Office

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Comedy, Prime Time, Reality, Cable, NBC, The Office, Rumors,

-Actor Ryan O’Neal and daughter Tatum O’Neal may soon make nice—for a reality show. The estranged relatives are shopping a series called Lost and Found.

-Levi Johnston is also pitching a reality program. Loving Levi: The Road to the Mayor’s Office would follow Bristol Palin’s ex as he runs for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.

-Ricky Gervais insists he has no intentions of replacing Steve Carell in The Office. He says he doesn’t want to get up at “6am every day of the week for 7 years.”

-The Kids in the Hall will be reuniting for an eight-part original series. The comedy troupe can be seen on IFC starting August 20.

-Polygamy will be the focus of a new TLC series debuting September 26. Sister Wives will center on “Kody Brown, his three – soon to be four – wives and their many children.”

TV on DVD: December 11, 2007

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Action, Animation, Comedy, Drama, Music, Prime Time, Sci-Fi/Horror, ABC, Cable, FX, FOX, NBC, DVD,

There’s only two weeks left until Christmas!  Here are some of the TV on DVD options you can find on the shelves this Tuesday.

• Beverly Hills 90210 (Season 3)
• Big Love (Season 2)
• Dirt (Season 1)
• Frasier (Season 10)
• Frasier (Complete Series)
• Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (Season 3)
• High School Musical 2 (Extended Edition)
• Lost (Season 3)
• Masters of Horror: The V Word
• National Geographic: Inside the Living Body
• Slayers Next (Season 2)

Big Love Needs Big Help

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Prime Time, HBO, Cable/Satellite,

HBO has just announced that their under-appreciated series, Big Love, has already been picked up for a third season.  And while I dutifully watch this show and wish others would jump on board, I must admit—it really needs to improve by the time it comes up to bat again.

When I watch a show about polygamists, I want the show to focus on the polygamy angle.  Unfortunately, I’m not entirely thrilled with the direction the show has taken this year.  Way too much time has been spent on the compound, the family problems, the gambling venture and the annoying Rhonda.  It’s time we back to the central storyline:  the three wives and one husband.  There is so much potential fodder there for a voyeur like me.  Jealousy, time management, household duties….those subjects were only touched upon in the first season.  Everytime ABC’s John Quinones does a 20/20 investigative piece on polygamists, I’m glued.  I like to be a fly on the wall because I want to know if these wives truly get along with each other.

And what about the common denominator for all these women? Bill Paxton is extremely appealing as Bill Hendrickson, but his character is stretched a bit thin when he’s focused outside his immediate row of homes.  Shouldn’t he be popping pills wondering how he’s going to take care of his ladies and his business?  How exactly does he father all of his children equally?

Granted, storylines reminiscent of Desperate Housewives cannot be sustained over the lifetime of this series…but am I the only one who is bothered that the wives are TOO nice to each other?  Yes, they argue—but where are the catfights?  Big Love tries to demonstrate that polygamists are families too…but if they were just like the rest of us, would we have a reason to watch?

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