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« Roush Dispatch
Another Sweeps Week in Review
Survivor's Erik and Jeft Probst by Monty Brinton/CBS
Here’s another quick sketch of some of the past week’s most memorable TV moments. I’m starting with Thursday this time around, because frankly, I’m still reeling.
Another Survivor jaw-dropper. (Truly, this has been the most entertaining season in years.) Erik is now officially the dumbest Survivor player in history. Parvati said so as she cast her vote for the dupe, and even James agrees, he who previously held the title. Tell me you weren’t chanting “You idiot!” at the screen as Erik gave up his immunity necklace to Natalie (the last fan standing), falling into the ladies’ trap. They bounced him so fast it made his empty head spin. (Whereas Cirie pointing to her own head: "You can always beat 'em with this." No doubt.) Sunday’s all-female finale will feel like an anticlimax after the last few tribal councils, and this last one was the craziest yet. (I could barely focus on the rest of the night’s busy lineup, I was so stunned.) As Jeff Probst noted: "I think that is what you call a life lesson." Back to ice-cream scooping, you soda jerk.
CSI’s experiment in comedy. “Dying is easy, comedy is hard,” says Grissom as he extracts a rubber chicken from the throat of murder victim Katey Sagal, who plays the most despised sitcom diva since Chuck Lorre (of Two and a Half Men fame, who co-wrote this episode) stopped writing for them. (Did you notice that the Annabelle! logo was in the old Roseanne font?) Lots of fun in-jokes about the sad state of poor put-upon comedy writers/executive producers. (Surely Diedrich Bader’s character of the coattail-riding sorta-husband was modeled after Tom Arnold.) Loved the corporate hack griping, “They throw that Dancing crap at us.” The co-star (ever-funny Rachael Harris) shedding crocodile tears as she attended a Canine Thrombosis Foundation benefit. The discussion of “jumping the shark” (which went right over Gil’s head). “The clot doesn’t thicken, but the plot does.” And Brass getting the last joke: “Forget it, Gil. It’s Burbank.” Where, clearly, they get away with murder.
Also: the sight of William Petersen hoisting an Emmy while on set. “Is that what this is?” A nice slap at the Emmys for taking procedural actors so for granted. A similar moment occurred on this week’s House, as the doctor invaded the dressing room of his favorite medical soap’s leading man. We see Hugh Laurie holding an Emmy and looking in the mirror, feigning shock and humility at winning an award that has so far escaped him. Good stuff.
Meanwhile, an excellent Grey’s Anatomy was going on next door at ABC. George, “the chief’s intern,” acting as “sex police” as the hospital cracks down on interoffice romances, the bread-and-butter of this show. (The dying gay soldier providing counterpoint with his own moving “don’t ask, don’t tell” dilemma.) Derek and Meredith “in sync” at last, and Derek admitting to man-whore Sloan, “I slept with [Rose], and the whole time I was thinking about Meredith. Who’s the bigger whore?” Best moment, though: Cristina’s searing moment of laying bare her bitterness over Burke’s success: “I was his hand, and now I’m a ghost.” She does not wish him well. Neither does Hahn, who told Callie what we all could figure out: She doesn’t make friends easily.
This week’s Lost? The epitome of a head-scratcher. Took us all episode to get inside Jacob’s mystery cabin, and who was there? Christian and Claire! With the instructions to chosen-one Locke: “He wants us to move the island.” Twin Peaks, anyone? Best line, as usual, came from Ben: “There are consequences to being chosen. Because destiny, John, is a fickle bitch.” As, typically, are Lost fans. Wonder what they’ll make of this one.
On a quieter note, Scrubs slipped away from NBC’s schedule with an elaborate fairy-tale allegory as its season finale. Not quite up to the musical episode’s standards—I expected a little more Shrek-style humor, like the two-headed Turla (Turk-Carla) witch—but the Sleeping Beauty parable of “the idiot and the princess” (J.D. and Elliot, natch) trying to save the maiden (patient) from the monster (a mystery illness) was quite effective. I’m glad, however, this wasn’t the last episode ever. It deserves the year-long sendoff it’s going to get on ABC.
Another finale: 30 Rock. Or: Jack Donaghy Goes to Washington, where he meets Matthew Broderick’s sad-sack government tool Cooter Burger (both nicknames from the “lame eagle” commander in chief). As has been the case last week, it’s all more silly than actually funny, including Kenneth’s battle against Chief Errand Boy Donny over his Beijing application, Jenna’s demonstration of “backdoor bragging” and Liz’s pregnancy scare, caused by the bull semen in her Mexican cheese curls.
Moving on from Thursday (hope to catch up with some more of last night’s shows later), some of the week’s other more notable moments:
Tear-jerker of the week: Brothers & Sisters, as Saul comes out to Kevin, who proposes to Scotty. (Not all in the same scene, thankfully.) Ron Rifkin simply heartbreaking as he considers a life not lived honestly. “I want my time back.” As for Kevin’s reasoning for proposing to Scotty: “I want us to be a family.” Even the family-business wrangling was compelling. Meanwhile, the arguing continues over how they’re playing out the Rebecca-Justin storyline. Emily VanCamp’s acting can’t be faulted—and wait till you see the workout she gets in Sunday’s season finale—but for me, the writing (especially during Justin’s hissy fit) of this material has the stench of hokey soap opera.
Hoot of the week: Gossip Girl, which after this week’s episode has firmly laid claim as the successor to Melrose Place for irresistibly camp melodrama. You know you want to watch, so why aren’t you? Georgina outing Eric at a Van Der Woodsen family dinner? Ouch. And that gay boyfriend of Jenny’s, telling her she’s lucky to be his beard? Cad! The Jenny-Blair battle was a riot, and the dialogue this week was beyond quotable: “Dating a gay guy is an honest mistake, but lying to your girlfriends about sex is unforgivable.” Who knew the dreaded “L word” in this circle was “liar?” Thankfully, Rufus is the forgiving type, and Jenny had family Scrabble to come home to. Serena? Not so lucky. Not with that video hanging over her head.
Reality moments: Jason Castro shown the door on American Idol. Finally. I’d say more, but I forgot the words. Cristian de la Fuente stepping up big-time on Dancing With the Stars. The relay-race Quickfire Challenge on Top Chef. I could have sat through an entire episode of that.
Craziest graphics: The CSI shots inside Jake’s stomach on Two and a Half Men, culminating in that gas bubble. CNN’s John King playing with that magic map of Indiana as primary results were slow coming in on Tuesday night. (Jon Stewart would later mock this as “a sad tale of obsession and madness.” Have you ever watched someone playing with their new iPhone? That’s what watching King at the map is like. Kind of cool at first, but then it’s just annoying.
Best courtroom battle: Connie Rubirosa for the defense for a change of pace on Law & Order, going up against Cutter. She's ruthless, and Alana De La Garza came into her own at last in this ensemble.
Scariest small fry: Kayla on Desperate Housewives, the scheming little bad seed who makes Lynette’s pack of Dennis the Menaces look benign. (And can I just say: Ick to Justine Bateman. She was a drag on Men in Trees, and no more welcome on Wisteria Lane. Kayla, get busy.)
Fun vampire moment: Learning that Moonlight's veteran vamp Josef once spent a “particularly rowdy night at Garbo’s” back in the Hollywood heyday. “Don’t tell me, you’re the reason she wanted to be alone,” joked Beth. “You wouldn’t want me to kiss and tell, would you?” Josef countered. Oh yes, we would. With flashbacks, too. I like how they’re making better use of Jason Dohring lately. I want to see more of this shadow society of Hollywood vamp society. Another great twist for the show: Beth quits Buzzwire (never liked that setting), laying the way for her working for the DA, a much more appropriate starting point for her Nancy Drew heroics.
And finally, a nod of the cap to Saturday Night Live’s Will Forte as Barney’s overeager “rebound bro” on How I Met Your Mother. Funny how funny an actor like this can be, given good material. (As opposed to sorry dead-ends like SNL’s “MacGruber” sketches.)
So what were your most memorable moments (good and bad) from the last week? Share below. Can you believe we’ve only got two more weeks of the regular season left? Enjoy while you can.
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May 9, 2008 12:35 PM
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Matt - Thanks for another shout-out to Moonlight. I enjoyed getting more of Jason Dohring too and I hope it continues (assuming the show is renewed).
My other highlight was last night's Supernatural episode. It had a deliciously creepy "monster of the week" to be dispensed with, plus the ongoing agony of anticipating Dean's demise and Sam's efforts to save him. We also got a wonderfully twisty denouement for the Bela character. And, as an extra treat, the appearance of Steven Williams (Mr. X in the X-Files) as Rufus, a mysterious aged hunter who I hope will be back again.
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May 9, 2008 2:43 PM
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Erik may have performed a dumb move but stop hating on him. It seemed to me like he did it not for strategy reasons but because he generally wanted the girls to forgive him, somewhat. No one wants to be disliked and for a young guy in a small Michigan town, it probably hit him harder than it would others. But the girls shouldn't have ganged up on him. They've been lying and backstabbing all year and I prefer none of them were in the finals.
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May 9, 2008 2:59 PM
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I also loved that moment when House lifts the Emmy, and his reaction. It was priceless. Also it was a hoot to have "fan" House with his favorite soap star. And a blast from the past with the hospital inspector being Richard from Felicity.
It might be just me but 30 Rock since returning from the writer's strike has really been off it's game lately. Alec Baldwin saves the show every time. Even if the story with Matthew Broderick was silly and wasteful of MB's talents, it was nice to see the two of them in scenes together.
Thanks again Matt for singling out Alana De La Garza on Law & Order as your earlier dispatch noted, she was amazing! It was great to see her and Cutter face in court and wow -- I would want Connie as my defense attorney. She proved to be a very formible opponent.
Gossip Girl is a true guilty pleasure and I am enjoying every second of it. I am looking forward to this Monday's episode and seeing the awkward truce between Nate, Blair and Chuck to help Serena.
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May 9, 2008 3:03 PM
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Lost fans loved that episode, Matt. Thanks for asking!
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May 9, 2008 4:51 PM
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You missed Bones. The trial of her father, the conflict of the squints over testifying against her father, Bones's confusion over her head (brains) and heart (love for her father), these were not just good for sweeps week but a series definer. I thought it was great.
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May 10, 2008 9:03 AM
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Will Forte on "How I Met Your Mother" was a highlight. First time I ever laughed out loud at that show.
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May 10, 2008 9:46 AM
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Matt, no mention of The Office? I'd like to know your thoughts on the most recent episode.
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May 11, 2008 10:43 PM
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Matt..
Thanks for the positive Moonlight comments! Who does't love Josef! It's getting better and better each week.
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May 11, 2008 11:35 PM
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I agree with pretty much everything you said, Matt. As usual. The thing about Lost is exactly what has happened before. You end the week thinking "Huh?" and then the next week (or the week after you say "Ahhhh.. NOW I get it!" That is one of the best things about Lost.
And Kayla on DH... that girl gives me chills. She seems to be the "love" child of Damien from the Omen and Wednesday Addams. Without any of their sweetness. That is one seriously evil child.
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May 12, 2008 5:09 AM
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I must have a more sensitive nose than you. The "stench of hokey soap opera" drove me away from Brothers & Sisters a long time ago. (It's what puts the B.S. in B.&S.) Hey, wasn't Calista Flockhart supposed to be Ann Coulter? That might have held me longer.
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May 12, 2008 9:29 AM
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Grey's reeks of a desperation to attract viewers. It started with that butt-kissing press statement that Shonda put out. The interns' little trists used to be fun. Now I honestly can't even keep up with who's slept with whom. The "He forgot he slept with me" line was (unintentinally) hilarious because of this. Christina has become a totally different character: weak, needy, etc. Hahn is like fingernails down a chalkboard. Derek is seriously pathetic. His need to be in a relationship is sick. Using not one but two gay storylines did not feel at all natural to me. Instead of being heart-warming or touching or whatever it just screemed "ratings ploy." As did the whole story line with Burke. Cheap. Very cheap.
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May 12, 2008 9:39 AM
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Skoobeedont I could disagree with you more. Geez, did you not get a job on the show or something?
I think Grey's hasn't been this good in a long time. And since when do a couple of gay storylines (if you can call the Hahn-Callie storyline that) = ratings stunt? It didn't feel natural to you? Like, in a hospital of hundreds of people there couldn't be TWO sets of gay people? Besides, there has been no gay-related content on this show for 4 years...I think it's okay.
Besides soldiers were incredibly touching.
As for Christina, she went through a traumatic event and is having a crisis...is she not allowed to lose herself for a while?
Can't wait for next week's episode.
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May 13, 2008 4:02 PM
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I thought the CSI episode was good. It was 20% Cybil + 20% Grace Under Fire + 60% Rosanne which equals great KARMA! As I was watching the show, I kept wondering if Rosanne, Cybil Sheppard or Brett Butler were watching too. Chuck definitely stuck it to them and from what I’ve heard all 3 actresses were a pain in the wazoo. Diedrich Bader was so Tom Arnold!! Men & CSI should do this again but lets have Holland Taylor in a CSI episode. She could definitely rattle Grissom’s cage or even better head to head w/Brass.
As for Grey’s (thank God for DVR), I agree Christina is not herself. I may be in the minority here and heavens forbid I DO NOT CONDONE what Isaiah Washington said but I do miss his character Burke. Hahn is doing anything for me, Burke brought intensity and the interns/residents actually respected him. With Hahn, I feel they just don’t give a crap.
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May 14, 2008 11:32 AM
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