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Isaiah's Bionic Makeover, and Other Random Thoughts
• The paparazzi seem to have two new obsessions: Sarah Michelle Gellar, and celebrities with dogs. What begat either of 'em? No offense to Buffy at all, but it's as if they just this past week "discovered" her, or did she suddenly recover from agoraphobia? And Heigl with a dog, Paris with a dog, Duff with a dog.... Do the paps carry a spare Chihuahua in their film bag?
• Knock me over with a feather, the Hairspray movie remake/redo/reimagining is getting some 4-star raves, including from the Post. Never underestimate the power of a luminous Michelle Pfeiffer.
• Drew is the frontrunner! Ian is the fave! Don't count out Steines! I grow more and more convinced that the person who should ultimately "win" the Price Is Right gig is the overzealous publicist whose leaks helped get him there.
• Does Posh ever crack a smile? Sexy gal, but... ever? UPDATE: I have since read that Mrs. Beckham thinks she looks "dorky" when she smiles, and thus (steadfastly) sticks to the "Posh pout."
• The Apprentice (waning reality series) + celebrity players (reality-TV's most dubious twist) = awful idea. What the show needed was to return to its Season 1/2 roots, not make it more contrived.
• I'm torn over Bionic Woman's decision to, no, not hire Isaiah, but give Jaime's (now recast) sister back her hearing. The likes of Marlee Maitlin and Weeds/Jericho hottie Shoshanna Stern have shown us how easily a deaf character can be integrated, and there obviously was a "plan" in making the sis deaf to begin with. While I had a "problem" with Mae Whitman doing a "deaf voice" in the original pilot, dropping the trait all together kinda comes off as, "Eh, we couldn't be bothered."
• OK, fine — Isaiah Washington on Bionic Woman. I think it's the best-possible comeback vehicle for him in that it's sci fi, it's a new show, it's short-term and he's playing a covert government type with a mysterious agenda. The last place IW needs to be seen right now is on, like, a real drama, where we would be hard-pressed to look past him, the actor. Heaping on a few layers of disbelief and sci-fi glitz should buffer his presence.
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Jul 18, 2007 11:27 AM
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Give Posh a break. She smiles just not in front of the camera. That's her haughty british look. It's supposed to be SEXY.
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Jul 18, 2007 11:49 AM
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Matt, I'm with you on the whole deaf recasting. During the trailer, the interaction between the sisters was just as intriguing to me as the action and the "makeover".
And now she can hear and she's a computer whiz or something, so we all know that's going to lead to some sisterly teamwork down the road; LAME. But I guess I can't knock it til I see it, but I thought the deaf sister would have been a welcomed twist.
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Jul 18, 2007 4:13 PM
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Gotta commend you, Matt. I find myself nodding in agreement more times than not with you - plus laughing out loud over the pithy comments.
One issue on which I think we part ways is Isaiah Washington on Bionic Woman. It's a new show and needs to find its feet without the distraction of IW's presence. From what I've seen in your own poll, a lot of people plan not to watch this because of IW. While I respect the showrunners for giving him a second chance, I do think he's going to hurt it. I know I changed my mind about sampling it once I found out he was going to be part of it. Even watching reruns of Grey's, I can no longer separate the character from the actor playing it. Maybe time will get us past this, but for right now, where Washington goes I head the opposite direction.
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Jul 18, 2007 8:54 PM
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I plan to watch Bionic Woman with or without IW on board.
No disrespect, but if any viewer chooses not to watch this show solely becuz IW is attached is acting a little childish. No one person, especially MR. motor-mouth himself, should stop you from watching what could be a very good show.
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Jul 19, 2007 5:35 AM
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I was going to watch Bionic Woman before and will watch it now, it's silly not to watch just because of disagreeing with a guest star who is only in 5 of the 20 something episodes! It's too bad they went away from the sister having a hearing impairment while older sister has bionic hearing. It would have been an interesting story arch and if done well I could see it really working.
Sarah Michelle G is still alive, haven't heard from her in ages, I must pick up a tabloid and see what she is up to cause lord knows I haven't seen her on tv or the silver screen in ages. So how much is Freddie P paying the paparazzi to give her some publicity?
Posh and Donald, I would rather have the tv off then watch either one. But the two debating the American versus British health systems with Larry King moderating, I might consider watching that.
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Jul 19, 2007 9:49 AM
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Matt - my guess is that Washington's character on Bionic Woman will be a person that will be easy to despise. A villian could possibly be the best portrayal that Isaiah could hope for right now and NBC would be a lot safer if his character wasn't one you were supposed to like in the first place.
Any thoughts?
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Jul 19, 2007 2:55 PM
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Thank you Matt for raising the "deaf" issue. I am 20 years old and wear hearing aids. It would have been great to see a primetime TV portrayal of a deaf woman (even if played by a hearing person) especially when disabled people or portrayals of them are rarely to be even seen on tv.
But hey, like you said, the show's creator couldn't be bothered with details like that.
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Jul 19, 2007 3:09 PM
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I hope that Isaiah plays a villain, and the bionic woman or "Starbuck" kick his ass. I think the viewers would like that.
And although I'm not happy with his addition, it's only for 5 episodes, so I think it's stupid to decide not to watch a show just for one actor in a couple of episodes.
The show is one of the best of the fall, so people, give it a chance.
And about the recasting of the sister, I thought Mae Whitman was great. She was one of the reasons I was going to tune in (Arrested Development fan).
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Jul 21, 2007 11:07 AM
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Great blog, Matt. Sorry I'm late to the party - too much real life going on!
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Jul 28, 2007 8:37 PM
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