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.

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.

Bookmark It

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

And my love for Lost has no boundaries.

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. If 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.

Bookmark It

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.

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.

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.

I think the budding friendship between Ray and Tanya is really nice and could become one of the better buddy stories of current-day television. And I like the dynamic between Ray and his children and the twins with each other. I like that the kids are neither perfect nor loser misfits. They’re teenagers going through teenage angst and teenage phases.

And you know that neighbor wife totally has her eye on Ray and as soon as she finds out, she’s gonna make him sleep with her in exchange for not telling her husband. Or, she’ll just flat-out hire him. Can’t decide yet.

And then, True Blood.

What can you say about this show that hasn’t already been said? It’s gory, it’s nearly pornographic at moments and it’s funny. It’s also suspenseful and sweet at the same time.

The scenes between Hoyt and Jessica were absolutely adorable. Both when she told him she had to go to sleep and not to worry that she looked … dead … and when she told him to take his pants off.

I’m finding the whole backstory issue very interesting. Once Bill had explained how he became a vampire, I hadn’t thought much about how he’d lived his life since. Now that we’re seeing how he’d been so bloodthirsty for so long and how much it bothered him, his decision to drink True Blood is in a new light.

Obviously, he had a very strong moral center before being turned, and then being in the Civil War and seeing all the death and carnage made a very strong impression on him.

He felt obligated to his maker to do her bidding, to kill with her and pretend to enjoy the wanton slaughter. But after a while, he couldn’t take another innocent’s life.

Now: Did Mrs. Newlin actually shoot Jason or was that a stun gun? I couldn’t quite tell from the angle? Does Eggs know Maryann’s true nature? Is Tara ever going to be able to get Maryann out of Sookie’s house and why does Maryann latch so much onto Tara?

Lots of questions, another month’s worth of episodes to find out some answers.

All I can say is I’m really glad Lafayette’s back in the game. Love that boy.

By the by, Backstage said True Blood increases its audience every episode, with an average of 3.8 million viewers now tuning in — but 11.2 million when you count the repeats/DVR/On Demand. It’s HBO’s most-watched show since The Sopranos. Nice.

And, according to Backstage, Big Love is returning in January and Flight of the Conchords is likely to return for a third season. The Pacific, a World War II miniseries will air in March and lead up to the return of David Simon to HBO (The Wire, anyone?) with his New Orleans-based drama, Treme.

No word yet on In Treatment and The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, neither of which I watch, though my mother-in-law loved No. 1.

Bookmark It

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

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

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.

The movie’s already finished filming and Vince is on to his next feature film, a biopic of Enzo Anselmo Ferrari. Of course, this means he needs to learn to drive. I mean, he doesn’t REALLY have to drive, because they’ll have stunt drivers, but how would it look for a biopic of one of the most famous sportscar makers EVAR to not know how to drive?

The driving test scene was fabulous. I can’t help but wonder if the guy who gave him the driving test is gonna be fired because Vince admitted on Leno that he passed him in exchange for tickets to the Gatsby premiere? (Plus one, of course!)

As for E and Sloan, they need to get over themselves already and just get back together. Now that E’s moving out, dontcha think that’s going to happen? That was really the main thing that got between the two of them. The boys.

Turtle? I’m totally loving that he’s with Meadow Soprano. How awesome is that? Good for him. He’s a nice guy and just a little paunchy. And he’s been denied for so long.

Drama? Well, he still gets no respect, but he does have two Razzies and his TV show is still going strong. Good for him. And even better for Kevin Dillon, for taking on a role that sorta kinda made fun of his own life and making it one of the best characters on television.

But most important, frankly, is Lloyd. When he first stood up and joined Ari on quitting his old agency, he was eager to please and recognized a great talent in an agent when he saw it. But he’s proven himself over and over and over again and Ari has to put up or shut up. Good for Lloyd for reading Ari the riot act and telling him what time it is.

If Ari doesn’t wake up soon, he’s going to lose Lloyd. A lot of Ari’s success the last few years has been directly due to Lloyd. And Lloyd playing dirty by going to Mrs. Ari? Even getting the kidlets on his side? AWE.some.

SPOILER ALERT for next paragraph:

I read somewhere (I can’t find it anywhere, but if I do, I will link to it here) that Lloyd is “leaving his position” this season, but after last night, I’m holding onto hope that that’s double-speak for really meaning that he’s getting his promotion, not that he’s leaving the show.

I’m thinking HBO, the show’s creators and Rex Lee himself recognize that he’s needed on Entourage (he has his own video diary on the HBO site!), so he won’t be leaving.

Bookmark It