TV Tyrant

Boycotting the Emmys

September 20th, 2009 | by | 30 rock, battlestar galactica, bored to death, curb your enthusiasm, emmys, fringe, hbo, intervention, jericho, kings, the wire

Sep
20

I went back and forth on whether I’d live-blog the Emmys tonight, mainly because, after all, this is a TV blog.

But then I thought about it.

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Where’s Battlestar Galactica? Kings? Did Jericho ever get any love?

Sure, critical darlings 30 Rock and The Office, though relatively low-rated (compared with the CSI juggernaut, anyway) get lots of Emmy love – as they well should. But most of the best shows on television rarely get any attention from the academy, unless they’re on HBO. And even there, The Wire never got recognition and it was, bar none, the best show on television during its run.

And if nothing else, this blog is about quality television (OK, and sometimes Charles in Charge, but I was young, sue me). And the Emmy broadcast itself is not quality television. How does the Oscar ceremony win a freakin’ Emmy every year? (Though I have to admit, choosing Intervention for Best Reality Series is a teensy bit redemptive.)

So tonight, I’ll be watching the Curb Your Enthusiasm season premiere and the series premiere of Bored to Death. We’ll probably catch up with the season premiere of Fringe, which I was waiting for my husband’s return to watch.

The Emmys? I’ll probably glance on Twitter every now and again. Or maybe I’ll just wait ’til morning.

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Lost + Deadwood? Be still my heart!

August 23rd, 2009 | by | deadwood, eastbound and down, hbo, lost

Aug
23

It’s no secret that I love cross-pollination of my favorite TV shows.

And my love for Lost has no boundaries.

IFCs Independent Spirit Awards After Party - Inside Add Deadwood, the best show ever taken off the air too soon to the mix and I just might keel over with joy. John Hawkes, who played Sol Starr on HBO’s Western drama, is joining Lost for its swan season. The Hollywood Reporter said casting breakdowns of “Lennon,” the character Hawkes will play, described him thusly:

Lennon is the scruffy, edgy and charismatic spokesperson and translator for the president of a foreign corporation who is far more powerful than it seems from his position.

I wonder if he works for Sun’s father’s company? What other foreign corporation has been prominent on the show? Would they add another major player in this late in the game? Entirely possible, but I’d imagine this seems more likely. The Luxury Lounge In Honor Of The 2008 SAG Awards - Day 1If you can’t quite remember who Sol Starr was, I’m sure you’ll remember his partner, Seth Bullock, played with a quiet intensity by Timothy Olyphant who has become quite the sensation.

But Hawkes was excellent as Starr, the Jewish businessman who became mayor of the South Dakota frontier town. My only regret is that we didn’t get another season of the show, which was one of the best shows ever aired. Ever.

EVER.

Glad we’re getting to see more of Hawkes, though. We got treated to more of him in the first season of HBO’s Eastbound and Down, and he looked and acted so different that I didn’t even realize he was Kenny Powers brother.

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Nice: HBO renews its summer slate

August 3rd, 2009 | by | entourage, hung, true blood

Aug
03

Let’s hug it out, bitches – in a congratulatory kinda way: Entourage, Hung and True Blood each are getting another season.

So said HBO today, according to Backstage.

For those who are counting, that means Season 7 for Entourage, Season 3 for True Blood and Season 2 for Hung. All well-deserved.

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Let’s face it, the Entourage boys are fun. How could you not be happy for Turtle that he’s dating an honest-to-goodness Hollywood starlet? And how could you not be touched by Turtle’s deep-seated friendship with Johnny Drama that he was even willing to ask Jamie-Lynn to do a makeout scene with Johnny on his TV show?

I was even feeling badly for Vince that he’s all alone, kinda. And E that he’s bored at his work. Though his little girlfriend was totally right – why was he bothering with that when he doesn’t have to? Especially when it isn’t really working out.

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As for Hung, well, that show is a winner. It’s not what I expected, except it is exactly what I expected – something funny and whimsical and smart from HBO. HBO has rarely disappointed. And even when it’s not quite hit (John From Cincinnati), it’s still been … interesting.

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Entourage: The boys are back in town

July 13th, 2009 | by | entourage

Jul
13

Yeah, that was a cliche, but I couldn’t help myself.

I’m so excited to see my favorite boys back on TV.

entourage-season-six-poster

From everything-ist Ari Gold (sexist, racist, etc-ist) and his perhaps-no-longer-long-suffering assistant, Lloyd to Vince, Drama, Turtle and E, as well as the long-missed Shauna (her response to Ari’s remark about having only 4 percent body fat was lovely and profane, as usual) – the show’s return to the airwaves last night was a breath of fresh air.

It made me mourn for the heady days when it started and Sopranos and Six Feet Under were still on the air, but it has a couple of good new shows as its lead-in: True Blood and Hung. All in all, an enjoyable two hours of television.

But we are here to talk about Entourage, and all that’s happened since we last saw our boys, when Vince found out he was gonna be the lead in Scorcese’s Gatsby.

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