The TV Blog Coalition - Happy Holidays! Now Pass Me The Hot Chocolate!

Happy Holidays! Happy Hanukkah! Merry Christmas! Happy Kwanzaa, Christmukah (whatever happened to that?) or whatever you celebrate!

Either way, the snow is apparently snowing down hard at home in Toronto and in many other parts of North America (Las Vegas? For real?) but I'm still in Washington D.C. for a couple more days (where I had brunch with The TV Blog Coalition's fearless leader Dan from TiFaux!), but it's still cold and windy and the perfect time for hot chocolate in front of the fireplace big screen TV to catch up on some holiday movies (my faves? The Sound of Music, Love, Actually and Elf).

In the meantime, I promise I'll blog about TV again at some point, although I'll be doing some catchup reviews on more theatre I've seen in the past few months (still to come: The Sound of Music, Dirty Dancing, 9 to 5, Les Mis at the Signature, Next to Normal, West Side Story, Pal Joey and In the Heights re-review).

Anyways, here's what the other TV bloggers were talking about this past week:

Buzz reflected on the year Grey's Anatomy went totally crazy. (BuzzSugar)

This week Team GMMR shared our TV on DVD wish list. What's TV series are on your list? Here's to hoping Santa likes TV as much as the rest of us. (Give Me My Remote)

Every day from now until the end of the year Scooter is unveiling a new Best of 2008 list. And in spirit of the holidays, Scooter is giving away a couple of of iTunes or Amazon gift cards to mark the occasion. (Scooter McGavin's 9th Green)

Which EW 2008 Pop Culture moment photo, recreated by the gang at How I Met Your Mother, do you love best? Vance wants you to vote on it! Vance thinks it's a toss up between the Michael Phelps Olympics one and The Jonas Brothers one. Either way, Neil Patrick Harris is hot. (Tapeworthy)

This week, Jace once again took a look into the future, offering advance reviews of Season Three of HBO's Big Love and the Skins season finale on BBC America. (Televisionary)

Amy Poehler's send-off on Saturday Night Live was bittersweet -- Jesse was sad to see her go, but glad that she left on what could be the best episode of the season thus far! (TiFaux)

Heather and Ben warmed up for the final run of Battlestar Galactica and got quite excited about the new webisodes (TV Spy)

This week, the TV Addict poked fun at NBC's latest attempt to cut costs. (The TV Addict)

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[season 2, episode 1]!!!

The [title of show] Show "Who Shot Mindy" Christmas Spectacular Show Special Show is up!!! What a gift!!!

With Hunter Bell, Jeff Bowen, Heidi Blickenstaff, Susan Blackwell and sometimes Larry Pressgrove with special guests Cheyenne Jackson, Laura Benanti, Stephen Pasquale, Celia Keenan-Bolger and Lin-Manuel Miranda (and an 8.5"x 11" of a touring Max von Essen)!



I can't believe Cheyenne Jackson did it. But I'm with Grandpa. I'd like to stick my fingers up Cheyenne Jacksons...

But oh wait. Did Cheyenne Jackson actually do it? (Watch right until the end).

So I wikipedia'd the sh!t out of Occam's razor. Oh.

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Well, It's Really Bernstein and Jerome Robbins' Show Anyways

So I went to see West Side Story again (I know, I just went Wed. but it was THAT good!) at the National Theatre in DC (they had lottery! details below).

Stephen Sondheim was sitting 5 rows behind us.

He doesn't sign playbills apparently. Groan. I guess I don't feel bad for knocking Road Show now.

Director and original book writer Arthur Laurents was there too. He did sign my playbill!

(Cody Green (Riff), Karen Olivo (Anita), Josefina Scaglione (Maria), Matt Cavanaugh (Tony) also signed)

(Matt Cavanaugh, Josefina Scaglione and Cody Green above)

Anyways, if you're in the DC area, make sure you catch the show! It's AMAZING (and I had less problems with Matt this second time around though I think I've pinpointed why he isn't quite right. He's a bit TOO prim and proper to be believable as a former gang member and his Tony still uses Matt's JFK accent from Grey Gardens. Maybe it's because he's in DC?

Anyways, I'm still saying that Karen Olivo will have a strong case for the Tony. Cody Green really IS fantastic as Riff, Josefina is a true find, and Curtis Holbrook is insanely good as the insane Action, but this time I couldn't take my eyes off Cutie Petewtie Ryan Steele as Baby John who is an AMAZING dancer and can seriously kick as the rehearsal photo below shows (though someone on the message boards noted that it shows a bit more of something else too... and now it just makes me laugh whenever I see this photo):

Oh Baby John! Not really a baby anymore!

Anyways, they still haven't posted it ANYWHERE and it's not even posted at the theatre but the National Theatre is going to run LOTTERY RUSH tickets for every show of West Side Story while they are in Washington D.C. (until January 17th). Lotto slips are available 2 hours before the show (6pm for night shows) at the little souvenir sales counter (you have to ask the guy cause there's no sign and he hides the lotto slips in a drawer). They draw 1.5 hour before the show (so 6:30pm for night shows). 2 max per person. 21 tickets available in the front row. $26.50/ticket. CASH ONLY. There were only 11 people there on Friday night (and only 14 tickets were needed in the end). I have a feeling this won't last long once word gets out so I'm giving you the heads up to GO!

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How I Love This Cast

Entertainment Weekly's photographers Williams + Hirakawa took these brilliant photos of big moments in 2008 recreated by the fabulous cast of How I Met Your Mother.

I don't think I could love Josh Radnor, Neil Patrick Harris, Alyson Hannigan, Jason Segel and Cobie Smulders any more than I do now! (And I already loved them a lot before!)

Michael Phelps and the US swim team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics:



Sex and the City: The Movie:


The Vice-Presidential Debate:


The introduction of The Jonas Brothers to the world:



Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull:


I don't know which one I love more? The Jonas Brothers one is hilarious. The Indy one makes Cobie and Neil look smokin' hot. The Phelps Olympics one is hilarious PLUS we get to see Neil's pecs. Segel's face on the Vice-Presidential one is priceless. I like seeing Cobie and Radnor dressed up in the SATC one.

I think I would have first leaned to the Olympics but I think the Jonas Brothers makes me laugh the most. Plus it has all 5 cast members in it.

What's your fave? Vote on the sidebar until Tuesday!

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Something's Coming to Broadway!

Just saw the 3rd preview of West Side Story playing at the National Theatre in Washington D.C. on it's way to Broadway with original book writer and director Arthur Laurents (Gypsy) directing a hot young cast in the new revival.

WOW. WOW! WHOA... so sad... (the story. Not the show)

It's pretty much a gay man's wet dream. I'll churn out a better fuller more proper review but I just had to say WOW. The dancing is AMAZING and even on this first week of previews, it's perfect and scarily tight. The formations were so geometrically perfect you'd think Descartes was choreographing this thing. Jerome Robbins is a GOD and thankfully, they decided to stick with his original choreography in this updated revival.

I'm not sure how un-gritty former productions were but this one seemed pretty gritty, or at least as gritty a show can get when hot guys in gangs still dance in unison (Again, it's kind of a gay man's wet dream).

The new Spanish translations that translates some pretty famous songs (like "I Feel Pretty" and "A Boy Like That") into the characters native language adds authenticity to the story.

Karen Olivo (In the Heights) is going to give Billy Elliot's Hadyn Gwynne a good run for the Best Featured Actress Tony Award.

Newcomer Josefina Scaglione is a truly brilliant find as Maria.

Curtis Holbrook (Xanadu) is CRAZY Psycho as Action. Perfect!

Cody Green obliterates any snarkiness one may have of him for having been on Step it Up and Dance and really shines on stage, both in dancing and singing.

Some have complained that the cast is too hot for its own good but I say bah to them all. It's hot, it sizzles and that just only adds to the darkness of the piece.

The show is almost perfect. Almost.

Something still doesn't quite fit right, and I think it may be my love Matt Cavanagh (another future husband of mine) who I think is slightly miscast as Tony. He works well in a lot of scenes but not in others, and his voice is a bit too operatic with too much vibrato in it for his role, and it only works when he's dueting with Josephina's operatic voice. I won't totally pin it on him yet but the show is almost perfect... but it's just not quite...

It's going to get ****1/2.

Now I'm really curious to see how Stratford is going to do this (with choreographer Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys, Saved) and director Gary Griffin (The Color Purple) next summer.

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Tasting Cheyenne Jackson

OMG WUZ Dat Cheyenne Jackson on Top Chef? I'd taste some of HIM!

Man, I'm hungry again now. Seriously, I need to stop watching Top Chef this late at night when I ate long ago.

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The Road Not Taken - Road Show - Musical Review

Road Show - The Public Theatre - Off-Broadway - New York, NY - ***1/2 (out of 5)
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Book by John Weidman, Directed and Set Designed by John Doyle
Runs until Dec. 28th 2008

Just as the show itself has changed its name numerous times since its inception (originally Wise Guys, then Gold, then Bounce, and now Road Show), I keep changing my mind as to whether I loved the show or not. Anyways, BroadwayAbridged has abridged the show now and basically says it all. Hilariously might I add! (Although I didn't totally hate it as much as he did).

Loved the non-set set.

Didn't totally love the gloomy mood and all the browness, even though I know they were trying to invoke the early 1900's with it all.

Liked a lot of the songs, which are re-warmed Sondheim but re-warmed Sondheim is still far better than some other new shows.

Didn't love the fractured yet repetitive feeling story about two brothers in their search for success and their many many failures along the way.

Loved Alexander Gemignani as the "good" brother Addison Mizner.

Love Michael Cerveris and his voice and aura but didn't love him in the role as the "bad" brother Wilson Mizner and thought he was totally miscast.

Loved handsome and the beautiful voiced newcomer Claybourne Elder as Hollis Bessemer, who ends up being Addison's business partner and more, and eventually gets screwed over by the brothers.

Didn't love that none of it really made sense and people conveniently changed emotions and their minds, or would start taking drugs or being good or bad.

Loved that money was being thrown up in the air all the time.

Didn't love that it wasn't real money that I could take at the end of the show. Then it was like, yah, I get it. Money is being thrown away. And if I can't take it now, I thought it was a little overdone.

Liked the actors playing the parents.

Didn't love the parent characters at ALL and found any of their scenes a complete BORE. We get it. The brothers are haunted by their dead father and the mother is a whiny nag relying on the brothers for survival. Get on with it already.

Loved the ensemble (especially Anne L. Nathan, above second from left). Didn't love that some of the ensemble seemed underused and wasted sitting away on the set throughout the whole show. They really did look like they were missing their instruments.

I can see why Sondheim has kept fiddling with the show for so many years because it feels like there is a good musical somewhere in Road Show. It just isn't there yet. It's good and there are many great things. On the other hand, with the current version being number four, it might finally be time for Sondheim to move on to something else. Especially since the biggest problem may be the story itself. It's extremely episodic with each song seemingly detailing another of the brothers ventures to get rich (from seeking out gold in Alaska to building houses in Florida and a few scams in between), and it barely builds sympathy for Addison Mizner while it totally antagonizes brother Wilson Mizner, so it's hard to care and root for the leads in an already dark and gloomy setting. Elder's Hollis adds a breath of fresh air and some much needed empathy but he then gets easily tossed away by Addison (and the show) for the return of Wilson and his dirty tricks.

Sondheim might be best to get off this Road for another route, on the other hand, I enjoyed this ride more than I thought, despite the very bumpy road.

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Enjoy The Company of Eli Stone While You Still Can

Eli Stone - Grace - Ep. 202, Unwritten - Ep. 203, Should I Stay Or Should I Go - Ep. 204, The Humanitarian - Ep. 205, Happy Birthday Nate - Ep. 206, Help - Ep. 207

Okay, so I just realized I haven't written about Eli Stone since the premiere and I guess buzz around this show is at a minimal which is probably why ABC has already cancelled it. Still, I kept following because it was a very good show with the bones to be a very great show, much like Greg Berlanti's other shows (Everwood, Brothers & Sisters). Eli Stone started with a strong cast and quirky premise and is finally reaching a point where it's both entertaining and emotionally gratifying. And just as we get one last episode for the year tonight (at 10pm on ABC/AChannel), and only 3 more new episodes in the new year. Sadly, Eli Stone is going to join Berlanti's Jack & Bobby in shows with so much potential that got cancelled just as they were getting really great. Ugh.

Plus, no more new musical numbers or seeing Jonny Lee Miller's bemused face. So sad.

And Victor Garber is unemployed again? That just ain't right.

No more musical guest stars or stars trying a musical number. Okay, Katie Holmes wasn't perfect but she wasn't all that bad.

And finally, with Jordan kicking out his partners (the always awesome Katey Segal AND Tom Amandes!) and Eli becoming a partner in the new law firm specializing in doing good, things finally seem to be sorting out with the logistics of the law firm storyline, with Matt Dowd AND Maggie at the rival firm.

And with Eli helping break apart Maggie with her fiance (and us knowing they will end up together in the far future), and with Taylor having Matt's baby, things are finally getting interesting. Even Keith is getting a decent storyline now that Patti set him up with her daughter Angie (Taraji P. Hensen), who isn't as goody-two-shoes as she seems.

PLUS the revelations thing and the father (Tom Cavanagh) revelations in his secret diary that Dr. Frank thankfully saved, is making the whole "speaking to god" somehow intriguing and interesting without getting all religiously creepy. Plus I like the bond Eli has with brother Nathan.

I think the case that brought it all together was with the kid (Marshall Allman, LJ from Prison Break) trying to emancipate from his controlling father (Steven Culp, Desperate Housewives) after his father won a case for his son to enter an experimental study.

Maybe cause I have a thing for Marshall Allman and I think Culp is another one of those actors that should always be employed, but I loved this show for using them to culminate every major plotline and character into one major story that finally helped define the shows new direction.

I mean, the show was already at its best for amazing casting with its regulars AND guest stars (famous or not), but the show finally seems to be finding itself and figuring out what makes the show work.

But alas, now we will only have 4 more episodes to enjoy it all. Come on ABC. Reconsider please.

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Tears of Holiday Joy - The Big Bang Theory and More

The Big Bang Theory - The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis - Ep. 211

I'm not sure if I was crying because I was laughing so hard or if I was crying because I was so happy for Sheldon when Penny gave him the autographed knapkin (by Sheldon's hero Leonard Nemoy) for Christmas. I think it was a little bit of both.

I think I cried laughing/cried cried even more when Sheldon tried to return the generosity with baskets and baskets of soap AND a hug.

It was also nice to see a hottie nerd (Michael Trucco, Battlestar Galactica) around with Leonard and Penny both having a mancrush. Too bad we found out hottie nerd was married, and this was AFTER his date with Penny.



More on How I Met Your Mother, Worst Week, Chuck:


How I Met Your Mother - Little Minnesota - Ep. 411

We do NOT say aboot. Or oot. And everyone is afraid of the dark.

But yes, we do say "sorry" for everything. Even when it's clearly not our fault.


Chuck - Chuck Versus Santa Claus - Ep. 211

Someone crashes into the store and takes it hostage. Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!

Chuck and Sarah bond during the hostage and the sparks continue to fly. Emmett manages to promote the store during the hostage while Tony Hale still manages to steal the spotlight from his small guest role. Adam Baldwin still grunts with the best emotion possible as Casey. Ellie and Captain Awesome are finally brought into the Buy More mix just as the hostage happened. And Morgan for once, saves the day! And Big Mike and Captain Awesome make for awesome tackling buddies! Plus Reginald VelJohnson! Whoa! Back in his Die Hard role! And no Urkel in sight! Woo!

I liked the hostage twist involving the Fulcrum and compromising the Intersect Chuck but I liked the little dark intel Chuck sees when Sarah decides to kill the Fulcrum/cop agent a point blank range. All to keep the secret of Chuck safe and to save his life. Still. Ouch.


Worst Week - The Gift - Ep. 110

Are you KIDDING ME? How cursed IS this family?

Sam buys a Cello for Melanie and this time ANGELA has HER worst week and breaks it.

Meanwhile, Sam convinces Dick to buy a car for Angela and manages to get it stolen right under his face (and bow).

Unbelievable. Yet unbelievably hilarious!

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High Schools Being Musical

ABC had been advertising it's special 20/20 special Drama High as a backstage look at the making of High School Musical.

Actually, it was A high school musical. Not THE High School Musical. What a scam. There wasn't a Zac Efron in sight.

Yet it was actually quite an engrossing documentary. More engrossing than American Teen actually, but maybe because it had a musical theatre slant of course (and thus, with the first hour of auditions, a A Chorus Line feel, or actually, more like Every Little Step, the documentary about the auditioning process for the last ACL).

It was refreshing to see young teens try out and get excited about theatre. Just as it was refreshing to watch the British documentary The Choir (on TVO in Ontario) where a young baby-faced choir master Gareth Malone tries to start a choir at an all-boys school in the UK.

I loved Gareth's idea of getting the teachers to start a staff choir to set an example for the boys. I was sort of taken aback when some of the men Gareth directly went after refused, but I'm glad most of them joined (especially the male P.E. teachers) in the end to set an example.

The solo boys were adorable (although the individual singing was decent) but as a whole, it sounded quite nice.

Meanwhile, the American counterpart in Drama High seemed to have a lot more kids gunning to be stars and I think most of the right people got the part, although I think Nick Cirillo was pretty great and would have made a great Lion.

ABC's whole promo that promised some big racial divisions with a mostly white school performing The Wiz turned out pretty minimal. It was just really crazy jealous Claire (who is white) complaining about the gospel music being played. Whatever, the right Dorothy was chosen (Martina) and everyone moved on.

I thought the controversy was because they brought in black kids from an inner city school for the show, or something like that. Ah ABC and their promos. Such drama queens.

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