6 posts tagged “blake lively”
*If you haven't seen the show yet, you should definitely watch the video at the end of this post. If it doesn't interest you, then the show's not for you, probably. But it is *awesome* and quite accurately captures the tone of the show. Plus the Mat Kearney song is fantastic.
Heh. Hearing Kristen say that in one of her Gossip Girl voice-overs tonight cracked me up.
She may have been referring to the whole Nate-Serena-Blair-Chuck-Dan debacle, but I'm using it to refer to Private Practice. More on that later.
Anyway, before I delve into tonight's episode, "The Wild Brunch," let me just take a moment to talk about two of my favorite books. Emily Giffin is one of my favorite authors, and she wrote Something Borrowed and Something Blue. The intriguing plot twist in both of these books is that they both center on the same story -- but are told from two very different points of view, best friends Rachel and Darcy.
I hated Darcy in Rachel's book, Something Borrowed. I sympathized with Rachel, even though what she did was pretty darn despicable. Then it was Darcy's turn in Something Blue. I still didn't like her much, but I did understand her a little better, and by the end of the book, I even got a little nostalgic and teary.
This is how I'm approaching Serena and Blair in Gossip Girl. Okay. So what Serena did was also pretty shady, although, hello, I still maintain that Nate deserved more of the blame. Maybe that's just the Girl Code in me. We don't know what Serena was like before she returns from boarding school, to which she fled after The Nate Thing. We don't know much about Blair, either. But from the first time we see her, she's been bitchy and vindictive and jealous -- and this was before she found out about Nate and Serena. So I don't get it.
I'm not sure what could be divulged that would make me sympathize with Blair, and since this is ostensibly going to be from Serena's POV anyway, I don't think I'll ever sympathize with her. I despise her. I hate hate hate with a passion Mean Girls (the actual entity, not the movie, which I loved), and Blair makes Regina George look like an amateur. The look she gets on her face just as she's about to twist the knife in Serena's back made me sick to my stomach. What a BITCH.
On the other hand, I really like this flawed, broken, mysterious character we've got in Serena. We don't know what happened while she was gone. The books say boarding school, but I've heard that they might change that up. The 'rehab' word was thrown around. What we do know is that she's back and trying to change and make amends. That is the kind of character and storyline I relish -- Josh Schwartz is talented enough to deliver a solid character arc, and Blake Lively is talented enough to give Serena depth.
Speaking of Blair, though, one thing I didn't get (because I haven't read past the first book) was that I thought Jenny idolized Serena. It was a bit confusing when she showed up at Blair's and did everything but genuflect. Erin, maybe you can help me out with that -- is this in the books, or is this just creative licensing?
Anyway, I am thisclose to adding Penn Badgley (Dan) to my -- crap, what did you call it, Cori? -- um...my FMWASOGBTWWLTDTFTDHTPOBP. Yeah. That's it. He was so adorable.
Music was great, but good grief, GG has employed Alexandra Patsavas, the same music supervisor from The OC and Grey's Anatomy. Of course the music is going to be kick-ass.
But the best part of the entire hour was Blake Lively. She shone once more. The scene where Blair tells Serena that she had found out about Serena and Nate hooking up, and then again the scene at the brunch where Blair and Chuck told Dan, and then at the end where Serena goes after Dan and tells him she's trying to change and he turns and walks away...dude. Blake was amazing -- her face effortlessly morphed from shocked to guilt-ridden to hurt to broken to desperate...and every emotion in between.
If I hadn't set the Season Pass last week, I would've definitely set it up after this week. This was the only show I was really looking forward to tonight, and I will continue to anticipate it every Wednesday. Even Matt Roush admitted he was really looking forward to "The Wild Brunch," although he had to throw the words "guilty pleasure" in for good measure. He's a guy so I suppose he has to "save face" or whatever. (Whatever.)
Private Practice, on the other hand? It majorly disappointed. It's definitely no Grey's Anatomy. The odd thing is that I like all the actors individually, but they just don't mesh. There is absolutely no chemistry, nor do I particularly relate to any of them. Normally I'd say I'd give it another week, but technically, this was the second episode, since we got that crossover special with Grey's last season. So I'm out.
Oh well. Shonda Rhimes couldn't be perfect at everything she did. And hey, that's one less hour of television I have to keep up with every week.
I'll take Gossip Girl over Private Practice (and Serena van der Woodsen and Dan Humphreys over Addison Montgomery and...erm...Tim Daly's character's name) any day.
How can something that's supposed to make you feel so complete end up leaving you so empty?
I spent the weekend at my parents' house because they were in Atlanta hanging out with the founder of Chick-fil-a and because my grandmother's Alzheimer's is starting to progress, my mom doesn't like her being left alone for too long.
Friday night after she went to bed, Lucy (my parents' miniature schnauzer puppy) and I climbed into bed and watched Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. And cried. Well, I cried. She snored.
It's too bad that the title is a little cheesy, because it's probably kept a lot of people from seeing it. It really is a remarkably well-done, touching movie. I've seen it a dozen times and I still cry during at least six or seven different parts of it.
Whoever did the casting did an outstanding job. The actors were almost exactly as the characters in the book are described. America Ferrera (Ugly Betty, Real Women Have Curves), Amber Tamblyn (Joan of Arcadia), Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls), and Blake Lively (Gossip Girl, Accepted; this was her first movie) were sheer perfection as Carmen, Tibby, Lena, and Bridget.
I really related a lot to all four: I'm cynical and sarcastic and tend to hold people at arms' length like Tibby; I struggle with self-esteem and feel like I'm an outsider in my own family like Carmen; I'm unsure of myself and feel like I have put on a mask like Lena; and I can be upbeat and fun on the outside when on the inside I feel alone and empty, like Bridget.
The two parts that hit me the most, though, are when Bridget's writing to Lena the Morning After and when Carmen finally confronts her father over the phone. Seriously. Tears. Everywhere.
They are currently filming the second movie, and I can't wait to see it.
So yeah. Netflix it. Even if you're a guy. Show that sensitive side.
Okay, so I vetoed my standard two-episode litmus test and went ahead and scheduled a Season Pass for Gossip Girl.
I liked it.
A lot.
And I'm not even sure I'd call it a guilty pleasure -- I'm not embarrassed to admit that I really liked the pilot, and I can tell that I'm definitely going to like the show better than the books.
The books are what they are. Like the NYT piece I linked in my last post stated, the whole point of the books was to be as soap-opera-shocking as possible. There aren't many life lessons or morals or ureka moments to be found mixed in with the martini swilling, bed hopping, and trips to Barneys, and that's cool.
But I need something more. Maybe it's my age. Maybe it's due to the fact that I didn't grow up with a platinum spoon in my mouth and don't know what it's like to grow up in the most elite section of Manhattan.
And so far, the show's delivering. I love Serena, and Blake Lively plays her perfectly. I love that even at her supposedly
I really like that Josh and Stephanie chose to write Serena's brother, Eric, as a depressed, suicidal pre-teen rather than the raging frat boy off at Brown, as he is depicted in the books. I like that they captured Dan's social awkwardness and wrong-side-of-the-tracks vibe without making him a scrawny Goth Boy. I like that Jenny is...er...normally proportioned. (I'm sure Taylor Momsen's glad, too.)
I'm ambivalent about Nate. I haven't quite decided whether or not to sympathize with Blair or hate her. I'm leaning towards the latter, especially in the last shot where she seems to be delighting in Chuck's muttered threats against Serena.
And whichever article pegged Chuck as a date rapist waiting to happen was so right. Ugh. The guy gives me the creeps. He's definitely more sinister than he is in the books.
Mark Piznarski directed. He directed several episodes of Veronica Mars, including the pilot. Recognize the name? Piz's name was a shout-out to Mark. Rob and the writers did that a lot. Anyway, I thought he did a great job. I especially liked the parallel of the opening and closing shots -- Serena staring out the window of the subway on her way into Manhattan juxtaposed with the shot of Serena staring out the window of the cab as she leaves the party where she has just probably ruined her reputation once and for all.
Oh -- and typical of Josh, the soundtrack was great. I still have Justin Timberlake's "What Goes Around" (which he performed live -- and ROCKED -- on Oprah today) running through my head.
Anyway. Chalk one up for the CW. It seems to have a hit -- at least a modest one, anyway -- with Gossip Girl, which is glitzier than The OC while not quite as well-written, but is easily 10 times better than One Tree Hill (and even Dawson's Creek) ever hoped to be.
Fall 2007 has jumped off to a great start. Only five more days till the premiere of the NBC trifecta about which I am quite excited.
PS -- Kristen Bell is so spot on as Gossip Girl. But then again, I wasn't expecting anything less.
(See? I told you I'd be back to my regularly-scheduled shallowness after yesterday's uncharacteristically serious post.)
I'm urging everyone to either sit down in front of the TV at 7 p.m. (8 p.m. EST) -- or set your DVRs/TiVos -- and check out Gossip Girl.
Yes, I know, it's on the CW, the killer of Veronica Mars. But if I'd taken that attitude three years ago, I'd have missed out on, well, Veronica Mars. Ew. It's on UPN? The network that killed Buffy in favor of, ugh, wrestling? No, thanks.
Josh Schwartz might not be quite on Rob Thomas' level, but he's a pretty darn good writer, and he's got quite the ear for snappy, snarky dialogue. Season 1 of The OC was hands-down outstanding, and even parts of Season 2 didn't suck. Then he got sidetracked with other stuff, but I prefer not to associate Seasons 3 and 4 with the original show. I pretend it was just an uglier half-sibling.
Entertainment Weekly, Matt Roush, Michael Ausiello, and Kristin Veitch are all giving it favorable reviews. The New York Times tried to criticize it by saying it's more serious than the novels and layers in more backstory that make the Upper East Side prep school Mean Girls more sympathetic, and I'm like, how is that bad? I've actually stopped reading the novels, just because I don't want to know everything that happens, and I like how Blake Lively describes her character so much better than how Serena's portrayed in the novels.
I think I've said in the past how I really don't bother investing in characters with whom I don't sympathize, and debauchery for debauchery's sake -- which is more or less the core of the novels -- really doesn't do much for me. So the fact that Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage are attempting to add depth to these characters is definitely a good thing. I'm a sucker for a good redemptive storyline, and that's basically how Lively has described Serena -- a former bad girl who's trying to change.
Maureen Ryan (Chicago Trib) and I normally see eye-to-eye, but she really doesn't like GG. Of course, she also tried comparing it to Veronica Mars. Um, I don't think anyone is attempting to compare the two. They are two totally different genres. She also says it's no OC, and there aren't any Seth Cohens or Ryan Atwoods among the cast. Well, I disagree on one point -- Penn Badgely is very Seth Cohen-esque, if not quite as adorkable. I don't mind that there's no Ryan Atwood. Cute Austin native or not, Ben McKenzie was always so...wooden. I was never overly fond of Ryan, and I never did understand his obsession with Marissa. Let's just hope there are no Marissas/Mischa Bartons in the mix. Ugh.
TV Gal over at Zap2It.com has given it three stars so far, which, for her, means that she'll watch it if she's home, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. I mean, just because I'm a fan of Josh Schwartz and Blake Lively and am hoping the show lives up to its expectations, I'm not above kicking it to the curb if it sucks. As with the rest of my lineup, I'll give it two episodes to prove itself Season Pass worthy.
Nothing else is on tonight, unless you count Kid Nation, which, I'm sorry, when I hear "kids," "STDs," "medical problems" and "liabilities" in the same sentence, I tend to feel a little sick to my stomach. I definitely won't be checking out that new gem of a reality TV show.
So watch Gossip Girl, if only to hear Kristen Bell KILL with the snarky narration.
It's September 1. Know what that means? And no, I'm not talking about anything to do with Labor Day or back to school or the fact that fall and crisp, cool weather's right around the corner -- here in good ol' Texas, I'll be wearing capris and flip-flops till, oh, about December.
Nope.
I'm talking about the start of the new TV season. Woo-hoo. Though the bulk of it doesn't start till September 24, a few shows kick off in less than three weeks.
So I thought I'd run down the list of what's on my TiVo list, what's on a week-to-week trial basis, and what's on the bubble. I thought about listing all the new shows and a brief description, but that's...a lot of research, and Saturday or no Saturday, I'm too lazy. Get your EW fall preview issues when they come out.
All times Central Standard Time.
Season Pass worthy:
The new:
Chuck (Mondays, NBC, 7 p.m., September 24): A one-hour, action-comedy series about Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi, Less Than Perfect), a computer geek who is catapulted into a new career as the government's most vital secret agent when he unwittingly opens an email subliminally coded with government secrets and downloads the entire server into his brain.
Also starring Adam Baldwin, Yvonne Strahovski, Joshua Gomez, and Sarah Lancaster; from executive producer Josh Schwartz (The OC, Gossip Girl). I've seen the pilot and it is laugh-out-loud funny and packed full of cool car chases and fights with assassins. Think Season 1 Seth Cohen all grown up and working for the Geek Squad-esque Nerd Herd.
Samantha, Who? (Mondays, ABC, 8:30 p.m., October 15): Christina Applegate stars as Samantha Newly, who wakes up after an eight-day coma with retrograde amnesia. It turns out to be a blessing in disguise, because it gives her a chance at a do-over. She realizes she was a horrible -- vicious, selfish, and surrounded by more enemies than friends. She vows to to make better choices and to improve herself moving forward.
Also starring Jennifer Esposito, Kevin Dunn, Melissa McCarthy (Sookie!), Tim Russ, Barry Watson, and Jean Smart. The pilot's not floating around anywhere, but the critics are all giving it great reviews. I'm looking forward to adding another comedy to The Office and Scrubs, because let's face it, truly good comedies are scarce. (I miss Arrested Development. Sob.)
Pushing Daisies (Wednesdays, ABC, 7 p.m., October 3): Lee Pace (Wonderfalls) stars as Ned in a show that's equal parts love story, criminal procedure, and high-concept fantasy. Ned is a pie-baking young man with a very special gift… the ability to return dead people briefly back to life with just a simple touch -- enabling him to help a P.I. crack murder cases by asking victims to name their killers. The twist? If he touches them again, they'll die for good, and if those he brings to life stay alive too long, someone else will die. It's a modern fairytale filled with romance, mystery, and a touch of magic.
Also starring Anna Friel, Chi McBride, Kristin Chenoweth, Swoosie Kurtz, and Ellen Greene. I LOVED the pilot. I absolutely cannot wait to see more. If you don't add it to your must-see-TV list, you'll regret it. And also? Cori will punch you in the neck.
LOST (Wednesdays, ABC, 8 p.m., Mid-season): I think that time slot is correct, anyway. I've heard people weren't happy with the 9 p.m. slot, which I don't get, but whatevs. I suppose they'll bump Private Practice to 9 p.m. and put LOST after Pushing Daisies.
As with Grey's Anatomy, you just have to click on my LOST tag to find that I get...quite prolific about this show. If it's not your thing, that's cool. Just please don't let us know. You might get jumped on. We are quite the LOST-devoted bunch around here.
The Sarah Connor Chronicles (FOX, Mid-season): I've talked enough about this one. Humanizes Sarah Connor and her son, John, from the Terminator franchise and tells the story of what happens when Sarah stops running and goes on the offensive against the ever-evolving technological enemy bent on killing her son and destroying her life -- and perhaps the world.
Starring Lena Headey, Thomas Dekker, Summer Glau, and Richard T. Jones. I saw the pilot and it is spectacular. I can't wait till mid-season.
The returning:
Heroes (Mondays, NBC, 8 p.m., September 24): If you haven't been watching Heroes, seriously -- what are you waiting for? The DVDs dropped on Tuesday and you have plenty of time to catch up. After LOST, it was the best show not starring Kristen Bell on TV last season. And guess what? This season it WILL star Kristen Bell. It's a win-freaking-win situation.
If you don't watch it, I'm sure we could convince Cori to throw down on this one as well.
Bones (Tuesdays, FOX, 7 p.m., September 25): This show takes the average crime procedural and infuses it with massive doses of humor, sarcasm, sexual tension, and some romantic sparkage. When it premiered two years ago, I never thought I'd like it as much as I do, but with the third season upon us, it is most definitely Season Pass worthy. I also never thought I'd watch David Boreanaz in anything on TV ever again. Who knew the guy had such natural comic timing? He and Emily Deschanel ooze chemistry, and the supporting cast is delightful.
Grey's Anatomy (Thursdays, ABC, 8 p.m., September 27): If you hit my Grey's Anatomy tag, you'll realize just how much I've written about this show. I don't think there's really any need to add to it. It's in my top-5 shows and I never miss a week. With a stellar ensemble cast, spot-on character development, and some of the best writing ever in television, Desperate Housewives it most certainly is not.
**The Office (Thursdays, NBC, 8 p.m., September 27): I've missed laughing so hard I hurt myself. I just hope the writers correct the characterization of Pam this season, because while I adored her in Seasons 1 and 2, last season, she was...off, and therefore not really all that sympathetic.
Then again, this show could absolutely suck, and I'd keep watching. Want to know why? I'll give you a hint -- it starts with 'John' and ends with 'Krasinski.'
**Scrubs (Thursdays, NBC, 8:30 p.m., October 25): I have to say, I thought the show was off last season. It was almost as if it were trying too hard. That being said, this is its last season, and I wouldn't not watch. Plus, Keri Russell is set to reprise her guest-starring role as Elliot's sorority sister, and she was fantastic.
Scrubs is in the same category as The Office and Arrested Development -- only the coolest a select few really get and appreciate its humor.
**Supernatural (Thursdays, CW, 8 p.m., October 4): I used to make fun of myself for watching, but I have to say, it's pretty addictive. And dude. When did Jared Padalecki go from boy-next-door to holy-crap-hot? Seriously. He has gone from cute to drool-worthy. I'm sure my sister is still kicking herself for not going after him when she had the chance. Sometimes I feel like kicking her myself.
**While The Office and Scrubs are definitely Season Pass-worthy, I'm going to watch them live while I TiVo Grey's and Supernatural. The former, I choose to TiVo because I tend to re-watch, and the latter, for Kevin and Mia. They go to bed at 8, so I save the episodes for when I have them after school. Thanks to the fact I was never able to get my TiVo to read my digital cable box, I can TiVo two different shows at once and watch a third live on the digital box.
Week-to-week (until they prove SP-worthy. Or not.):
Journeyman (Mondays, NBC, 9 p.m., September 24): Completes what could very well be an NBC trifecta on Monday nights. Journeyman stars Kevin McKidd (Rome), as Dan Vasser, a San Francisco newspaper reporter who inexplicably begins to travel through time and change people's lives. Along the way, he must deal with the difficulties and stress at work and at home brought on by his sudden disappearances.
This show is getting favorable buzz and the premise is intriguing. It kind of reminds me a bit of the BBC series Life on Mars -- just not as cop/procedural-based.
Gossip Girl (Wednesdays, CW, 8 p.m., September 19): I JUST wrote about it. The more promos I see, the more excited I get about this show. Let's hope the CW doesn't screw it up, and that Josh, with his attention divided between it and Chuck, doesn't lose focus.
Starring Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Kelly Rutherford, Penn Badgley, Taylor Momsen, Chace Crawford, Matthew Settle, and Ed Westwick.
Private Practice (Wednesdays, ABC, 8 p.m., September 26): I have bumped this Grey's Anatomy spin-off centering on Dr. Addison Montgomery from automatic Season Pass to week-to-week because I am just not as excited about it as I was when it was announced. I have a feeling this is going to be more DH than Grey's, and there's a reason I stopped watching DH midway through its inaugural season -- it had absolutely no substance. But because it is Shonda, I'm going to give it my usual three-episode chance to see if I change my mind.
Women's Murder Club (Fridays, ABC, 8 p.m., October 12): The show is based on James Patterson's novels (First to Die, etc.) about a group of women who, through their jobs (DA, crime reporter, medical examiner, and detective) get thrust into solving mysteries and all that comes along with it.
Starring Angie Harmon, Paula Newsome, Aubrey Dollar, Tyrees Allen, Laura Harris, and Rob Benedict. There are two reasons I'm checking this out -- I loved Angie Harmon in Law and Order, and I've read the books and liked them a lot. Plus, the feedback has been pretty favorable.
The Return of Jezebel James (FOX, Mid-season): Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose play two couldn't-be-less-alike sisters in Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman Palladino's new series, premiering at mid-season. Posey is Sarah, a type-A, bright, optimistic and successful children's book editor who has never failed at anything in her life. But she realizes that something in her life is missing, so she decides to have a baby, only to be told she won't be able to get pregnant. She devises a plan to have her quirky, estranged younger sister (Ambrose) to carry the child for her. At first Coco refuses, but when she finds out that Sarah has turned Coco's imaginary friend from childhood, Jezebel James, into a children's book series, she's touched and decides maybe reconciliation might be worth a shot.
The fact that it's Amy Sherman-Palladino puts this on the week-to-week list for sure, and I love Parker Posey. It's getting good reviews, and I wouldn't be surprised if The Return of Jezebel James gets promoted to a Season Pass.
That about does it. I'm sure I'll get sucked into American Idol, like I do every year, even though, every year I tell myself I am NOT going to watch. You may have noticed that Prison Break is no longer on my list. Well, that's because I just found out that according to one of my favorite people ever, Kristin Veitch, Sarah Wayne Callies isn't returning except for in a few flashbacks. I'm sorry, Wentworth Miller or no, I just didn't think the show was as compelling when Dr. Sara wasn't in the mix with Michael. I haven't made up my mind about House yet, either. I just was kind of disappointed in the latter half of last season, and I'm not all that excited to tune into Season 4. (Oh, who am I kidding? It's Hugh Laurie. He could be speaking Pig Latin and I'd watch.)
I am still attached to my procedurals, like CSI, Without a Trace, Cold Case, SVU, etc., but since those shows are their respective networks' money-makers, they're forever on in reruns, so I'll catch them over the summer.
I'm reading the books. I'm about three chapters into the first one, because Erin said she was reading them, and I realized, "You know, I should probably read them, too, so I know what the heck's going on when the show starts in a couple weeks."
These books have all spent time on the NYT Best Seller's List -- although I will surely never, ever encourage Mia to read them -- and they're a mixture of fascination and revulsion. Fascination because I've never been this up-close-and-personal to this kind of lifestyle and revulsion because....do teenagers really behave like this?? What happened to parental supervision and gasp! boundaries?
At one point, there was talk of a movie version starring Lindsay Lohan, although I'm pretty sure this was back when she still wore underwear and was Above the Influence.
Here's a nice five-minute clip. Listen closely -- you'll recognize the voice of someone we all (okay, fine, I) know and love. She plays the Gossip Girl herself, who's never seen but whose third-person perspective serves as the narration and point of view for the story.
Oh, and I must say, they couldn't have chosen better than Blake Lively to play Serena van der Woodsen. And if you recognize Leighton Meester, who plays Blair Waldorf, there's a reason -- she was Carrie Bishop on Veronica Mars and the Arab kid's girlfriend in Season 4 of 24.
Anyway, Josh Schwartz (The OC, Chuck), when he's on his game, is usually pretty darn good, plus Penn Badgely, who was SO adorable in John Tucker Must Die plays the foil to all the rich asshat guys, and Kelly Rutherford (Mrs. Cohen, The OC) is back as another cool mom, so I'm going to give this a week-to-week priority before I deem it worthy enough of a Season Pass.
Plus? It looks as if they're making Serena a bit deeper than what I've seen in the book so far, and I always was a sucker for a good redemption story. Although seeing as how this is GG and the CW, I doubt it'll be quite as profound as anything from the mind of Joss Whedon.
