Archive for the 'Men in Trees' Category
With anticipation I checked the Emmy nominations a few days ago and I must say that I was quite disappointed. It seems as if the jury merely has the time to watch 5 to 6 shows since the same names keep showing up in almost every category. Don’t get me wrong - I love many of the shows that are nominated this year and I think it is absolutely justified that Tony Shalhoub and Hugh Laurie are yet again nominated for “Best actor” but can’t they just nominate some other shows for a change ? I watched the first few episodes of “Samantha Who” last season and while I generally enjoy Christina Applegate in her movies I quickly grew bored and stopped tuning in. On the other hand “Men in Trees” - which has been wrongfully cancelled - hasn’t been mentioned once. There was much more depth and character there than I could observe in SW. Shows I really hope will be successful in their categories are ”Friday Night Lights” “Brothers & Sisters” and “The Tudors”. I found this clip on www.ew.com - from the Ausiello Files. Adrianne Palicki and Connie Britton are so fantastic - I can’t wait for the show to go on the air. I enjoyed “Damages” but I wasn’t sad when the season ended so can’t understand all the nominations on that end. But maybe I’m wrong and the shows that appear on the nomination lists every year - the ones I haven’t seen - really are that good. Maybe I should check some of them out and then continue with this discussion (with myself). What surprised me a little was the amount of nominations “30 Rock” received. I love both Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin and I watch the show every week but 17 nominations? Even I must admit that this might be a bit too much. And how fabulous must “Pushing Daisies” be with a total of 12 nominations? That is definately a show I will take a look at and report back. Ok, stopping now with the Emmy talk.
Very recently I have started to rewatch all “Everybody loves Raymond” seasons. What shall I say- it’s been a rainy summer so far. Even watching the episodes for the second or third time is still hilarious. I would even say that this show is one of the funniest shows that have ever aired. And it’s not as exhausting as “Curb your Enthusiasm” which I also very much enjoy. I regularly need a break from Larry David’s “Faux pas” and can’t watch too many epis in a row whereas I can definately manage to watch a whole season of ELR in one day. During the weekend of course. Ok, maybe in two days. I love the whole cast and am very thrilled to see Ray Romano in “Men of a certain Age” on TNT this fall. I really can’t wait and hope that the show is going to be as successful as ELR was. There are so many excellent episodes of “Everybody loves Raymond”. Last night I very much enjoyed the one where Robert’s date eats a fly and Raymond watches her. I really laughed hard there. Romano is just the funniest man out there!
Ok, there’s so much more very important stuff I want to talk about here but the urge to go home and eat is momentarily stronger and I will therefore be back as soon as I’m saturated.
(Picture source: www.ew.com )
Tags: Emmys 2008, emmys, Men In Trees, Samantha Who, Christina Applegate, The Tudors, Damages, Friday Night Lights, Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Men of a certain age, Ray romano, Connie britton, Adrianne Palicki
TV Shows, 30 Rock, Movies, House, Brothers & Sisters, Monk, Friday Night Lights, Entourage, Men in Trees | July 22nd, 2008 by admin | No Comments
An early Happy Easter to everyone. Just planted some Trees to save my beloved show Men in Trees on ABC and to give it the third season it deserves. This brilliant idea came from the the community of the Men in Trees Message board on www.ABC.go.com. Details on how to support the show and the same time to help children in need can be found here. I followed Sally’s call and so should everybody who enjoys watching this fabulous and heart-warming show. I’ve always complained about how underrated shows get cancelled and I’ve mourned the loss but I’ve never done anything about it. I think it’s great that fans are actually getting up and fighting for their shows to stay on the air and thinking about great initiatives to to get their messages to the studios. And by planting trees you’re not only trying to save the show but are also helping children in need in Third World countries. I really hope that all the efforts are worth it. I must say as a person who watches a considerable amount of tv that there are quite a few shows on TV that are not able to hold a candle to Men in Trees but have a better and more permanent air spot, get way more elaborate advertising and all in all more attention from the studios. It is my opinion that Men in Trees deserves at least the same treatment. I hope that all the initiatives will help to open the studio executive’s eyes and to make them give the show another chance. I found a really good article on the Washington Post a couple of weeks ago and made a note to myself that I would post the link on my blog. Click here to read it. It especially gives those of you who aren’t watching yet a good insight on the show.
Apart from planting trees there’s nothing really exciting going on around the Easter Holidays but since I was rather sick the last days I found the idea of going on a “Friends” Marathon quite appealing. At least some marathon activities going on in my life this week - I wasn’t even able to walk a few steps mid illness. My brother is on a “Sex and the City” Marathon. He’s so lucky - I know all the episodes by heart and will not rewatch them before the big SATC movie in May. Oh before I forget it: Saw the season finale of “Lipstick Jungle” on NBC today and must say that in contrast to what I said abut the show in an earlier post it has managed to create some depth in the relationships of the main characters. Some of the storylines are really quite interesting and the emotions that are displayed are increasingly convincing. Let’s see whether the show gets a second season. I haven’t followed the news on it and am not sure whether anything has been released just yet.
Ok will continue to watch “Friends” now. Wouldn’t want to get behind! Take care and plant some trees!!!
M.
(Picture Source: http://abc.go.com)
Tags: Men in Trees, Save men in trees, Anne heche, James tupper, Jenny bicks, ABC Men in trees, trees for life, Emily bergl, Read between the minds, lipstick jungle nbc, sex and the city the movie, sex and the city
TV Shows, Men in Trees | March 22nd, 2008 by admin | 1 Comment
Tell me one thing. Why do so many men feel threatened by strong women? I ask myself this question every day. I consider myself a strong women - I stand up for myself, I know what I want and when I’m treated badly I deal with it openly and I confront people. This applies to my everyday life - be it at work or in private. I think that in order to develop a strong character it takes a lot of strength, courage and determination. I think that for a women to become so strong she must have gone through some tough times. But this is only my view. The problem is while strong women admire each other for these traits men feel threatened and often attacked. I’m confronted with these situations on a regular basis. Especially insecure men behave very generously when it comes to critizising their opponent. They can’t stop dishing out and afterwards they feel much better about themselves. But shame on you should you dare to reciprocate. Then you’re considered an unstable and hysterical bitch. The ironical thing is that these kind of men take themselves way too serious since they think that we really want to spend our time dealing with them. No, we don’t - I can just talk for myself here. We’re just smarter than to let them boost their self confidence on our account. I would like to quote Mr Adrian Monk here: “It’s a gift and a curse.” Once you’ve stood up for yourselve you can’t back off the next time you get attacked and let me tell you my friends, it’s pretty tough sometimes. Alright, just had to get that off my chest before the weekend.
Now to the important things: A belated congratulations to Hillary Clinton for winning Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island. She so much deserved to win after this horrible last month. I admired her on Saturday Night Life doing that scene with Amy Poehler and also laughed at her humor in the Daily Show on Monday when Jon Stewart asked her what she was doing going on an interview with him on the evening before the primaries. Her response “It’s pathetic” was just hilarious. I admire her strength and really hope that she can turn the dynamic of the race to her favour. It seems like it won’t go without the delegates of Michigan and Florida though so lets see with what kind of a solution the Democratic National Committee comes up with. Bill Clinton said something during a speech he held at the University of Wyoming yesterday and it corresponds well with with what I’ve been writing about in this post: “There is an indefinable quality you also need in a president, it goes beyond the ability to speak, to inspire, to think, to be smart, to come up with the right policies. You need somebody that you know is rock solid. (NY Times, Julie Bosman, 03.07.2008)”
Yes! Just read on www.tv.com that Friday Night Lights is saved - at least for now and will get its third season. Apparently the satellite-television provider DirecTV will support the show and add it to its game plan. I’m not sure whether this information is confirmed by either NBC or DirecTV but I do hope so. It gives me hope that for a change studios do care about their shows and make an effort to save them even if their ratings suck and nobody seems to watch them. People do have to start watching them though. Same goes for Men in Trees on ABC. There’s still no news on the renewal of the show for a third season and instead of getting slightly panicky I command everyone out there to watch the last two episodes of the show! I have watched every episode at least twice. I had nothing else to watch and Men in Trees is one of the few shows you can easily rewatch and still be entertained. Especially in the last episode I felt very involved: I cried when Marin did and I wanted to toss things when she did, I was overcome with joy when she saw Jack walking down the peer and I would have also wanted to have sex with him in that pickup truck. He’s just so gorgeous. Men in Trees is one of those shows where you become attached to every single character and where the town itself counts as a character as well. It reminds me of Twin Peaks where I wanted to move to during and after having seen the show and also of Gilmore Girls. I think every Gilmore Girls fan wanted to move to Stars Hollow and live with the Gilmores at least once. One of my favorite episodes was where Marin and Jane were visited by a bear and Jack had to rescue them (so sexy!) There’s just no annoying factor in Men in Trees so far. Not even Lynn disturbed me that much. I mean I was glad when we got to see her leave the town but while she was still there the episodes were written in a way that the viewers didn’t have to hate her. Not like Oliver in The O.C. man was he awful. And so far I must say David Rosenthal whom I found listed in the shows credits is doing a much better job here than he had done in Gilmore Girls. To his defence - stepping into the Palladino’s shoes was a “Mission Impossible” to begin with.
Later M.
(Picture Source www.a.abcnews.com)
Tags: Hillary clinton, Wyoming, Bill clinton, Friday night lights, Save friday night lights, NBC Directv, NY times, Yes she will, Men in trees, men in trees abc, jon stewart, daily show, Saturday night life, amy poehler
TV Shows, life, Monk, Friday Night Lights, Men in Trees, Politics | March 7th, 2008 by admin | No Comments
So the strike is over and the returning dates of most of the shows have been announced as you can see in the TV Guide’s Strike update by Michael Ausiello. But since most of the shows won’t return until April/May 2008 the waiting doesn’t stop just yet. While I’m very much hoping that Men in Trees will be renewed by ABC I have picked up “Lipstick Jungle” which airs Thursday nights on NBC. After having watched the first four episodes I haven’t quite made up my mind whether I’ll continue to watch it once the other shows return. The show describes the ups and downs in the lives of three of New York’s most powerful women. They are played by Brooke Shields (Wendy), Kim Raver (Nico) and Lindsay Price (Victory). I’m not really a fan of any of these actresses and the show hasn’t turned me into one so far. The storyline isn’t very innovative but keeps you just interested enough to tune in for the next episode. Viewers who expect to find witty dialogues, demonstrations of deep friendship or true interpersonal drama that occurs when one must balance career and private life will have to keep looking - for now. I think the whole concept has potential and the writers are definitely exploring the right issues but for now they are merely scratching on the surface and the plots seem somewhat superficial. Each character is facing very individual problems and emotions but somehow I can’t feel it. I absolutely couldn’t relate to Victory and her relationship with the billionaire. Is she so impressed by his money that she has to put up with his attitude? He doesn’t want to be a part of her life enough to be interested in her friends but merely wants alone time with her. His romantic gestures are almost always of materialistic nature like flying her around in his jet and showering her with gifts that used to belong to famous designers. It seems to me like a healthy und longlasting relationship… I’ll stop criticizing for now. It has only been four episodes-Let’s give the show a real chance to take off before we crush it-
What else is new? I had the most exhausting run ever on Sunday with my Marathon training group. It’s one thing to brag about running the marathon and another to actually follow through and prepare for it. There was a storm hovering over my city, airplanes nearly crashed while landing (not kidding!), people where asked to stay inside of their houses during the weekend and what did we do? We went running throught the woods. Like crazy people. For almost 3 hours through the mud up and down the hills. Mid-run I got these bad stitches in my side which emerged right after I hid behind a tree to follow nature’s call and the remainder of the run I really had to bite my teeth together in order to get rid of them. I at least made it through the run - something I wouldn’t have managed if it weren’t for my friend who motivated me through the painful period and stayed by my side until we caught up with the group.
Hillary Clinton visited this weekend’s Saturday Night Life as well as yesterday’s Daily Show but I haven’t seen the shows yet. Will catch up on them tonight.
So long!
(Picture Source: www.ew.com)
Tags: Hillary for president, Obama clinton, Lipstick jungle, lipstick jungle nbc, michael ausiello, men in trees, anne heche, brook shields, lindsay price, kim raver, marathon, the daily show, jon stewart, saturday night life, SNL amy poehler, poehler clinton
TV Shows, life, Men in Trees | March 4th, 2008 by admin | No Comments
Recently I have come to the conclusion that there’s nothing more frustrating than running against the wind. At least in my life which I guess means that my life doesn’t suck too much. With the marathon only 2 months away and training units increasing by the week I have lately been in a constant state of euphoric exhaustion… provided that such a condition actually exists. Despite being tired most of the time it doesn’t keep me from feeling excited everytime I put my running shoes back on and the feeling of elation during and after the run makes all the effort totally worth it. It just seems that I have been born into the windiest city ever and no matter what route I choose I keep running against the wind… Icy wind that pushes you back and deprives you of your well-portioned energy. I just hope that the harder the training is the easier the actual marathon will be. Yes I know I’m living in fantasy land. My parents keep asking me why I don’t just take the car but running has become like a drug to me. I can’t live without it. The perfect day in my life must always include a run, some excellent shows (we will get to that in a second) and good food. The rest is more or less optional. The weather forecast just gave a storm warning. Guess I’ll be having one of those fun runs tomorrow morning.
I’ve been reading a lot about the effects of the writer’s strike especially on new shows which are in their first or even second season. Initially I had the opinion that the strike would harm new shows that haven’t quite established their fan base yet and are still struggeling with low ratings. I thought that these shows wouldn’t make it through and after the strike and would face cancellation. But it seems that I wasn’t quite right. Bill Carter wrote in the NY Times back in November that shows like my beloved “Men in Trees” and “Friday Night Lights” would benefit from the fact that networks would begin running low on original scripts as the strike progresses. He claims that executives won’t waste episodes they’ve already paid for and will definitely air them. Now after the strike most of the established shows are in a hiatus while the studios are working 24/7 to produce as many episodes as they can for the remainder of the season. Shows like Men in Trees still have some episodes left like tonight by the way and hopefully will attract more viewers - viewers that might have had enough of the reality shows filling the gaps our favorite shows have left behind. Therefore the marginal shows as they call them might benefit from the weakened competition. Also the lineup for new fall shows might turn out very differently this year. Since less pilots could be produced executives might turn to shows that otherwise might have been cancelled and renew them. I personally hope that Men in Trees and FNL will be amongst these shows. At least hopes are up for FNL since NBC is considering sharing broadcasting duties of the show with networks like The CW or TNT. This solution might be FNL’s only chance to get a third season and so I embrace the idea and appload the efforts made by the NBC execs.
My brother recently brought ABC’s Men in Trees to my attention and what can I say, after a few episodes I was hooked and intrigued. And I know everyone could see the 
whole Jack/Marin romance coming in the series pilot but I nevertheless find the whole story convincing and sweet. People who know me will confirm that I’m not much of a romantic person these days and when I say I was practically melting away during Jack’s confession on Marin’s voicemail when she was in NY (First season) this really means something. When he chose Lynn over Marin I was ready to rip him into pieces. I love the whole Alaska setting and the other characters in Elmo and I’m so addicted to the show right now that I’m backing up Michael Ausiello on today’s “Ask Ausiello” and urge all of you out there to turn on your tv tonight and to watch ABC’s Men in Trees!!!
I can’t stop writing this post without quoting my favorite comedian/brilliant actress/producer Tina Fey who said in last Saturday Night Life that “Bitch is the new Black” when she tried to convince viewers to rethink their choice of voting for Obama and instead to vote for Clinton. Last Saturday’s SNL showed a parody of journalists promoting and pampering Obama while being overly tough on Clinton. Yesterday’s Cleveland debate between the two candidates looked very similar to that parody and SNL was even referred to by Clinton when she asked whether “Obama was feeling comfortable or if he’d like a pillow”. Alessandra Stanley brings it to the point in today’s NY Times article 20th Debate: Reality Show or a Spinoff? The direction the media coverage takes can very much affect how the the audience perceives a presidential candidate - or better said anyone and anything in the public eye. The favoritism surrounding Obama does not stop when it comes to the press. While Obama is often displayed from his graceful and calm side Clinton is being portrayed as a panicked and unsteady candidate who has no clear direction and has practically lost the race - therefore giving people the impression that she has and therefore changing their voting intentions from voting for Clinton to voting for Obama. I for myself must say that I tend to ignore the media’s attempts to influence the electorial behaviour and will base my decision solely on the hard facts: qualifications, experience etc. Of course media coverage that supports Clinton’s campaign is fine by me.
See ya!
(Picture Source www.etonline.com)
Tags: Obama Clinton cleveland debate, Men in trees, Marin jack, ABC Men In Trees, Friday Night Lights, Friday night lights CW, michael ausiello, ask ausiello, Tina fey, Saturday night life, Bitch is the black, bill carter NY times, Alessandra Stanley
TV Shows, life, Friday Night Lights, Men in Trees | February 27th, 2008 by admin | No Comments