Tag: matt lanter

RECAP: 90210, Up in Smoke

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Hi, my name is Kate and I’m an addict…a television addict, of course. Tonight marked the first night of season / series premieres for the fall season. And it all kicked off with the always glamorous, never apologetic, 90210.

It’s my ultimate guilty pleasure show, but you have to admit, last season was pretty damn good. And although my expectations for 90210 are never necessarily high, I was thoroughly satisfied with the fourth season premiere.

The Good

  • The Proposal: Liam comes back fresh from his very Pacey-esque summer on a fishing boat and promptly proposes to Annie. While I love these two, I am totally down with Annie rejecting Liam’s proposal…twice. And it will clearly be a long way back for these two. But I was glad to hear Liam tell Annie that he never loved anyone else. Suck on that, Liomi shippers.
  • Improved tolerance: Ivy and odd-couple Nilver didn’t bug me at all. At all. Maybe I am growing up…
  • Annie’s new love interest: classy polo, nice to look at…I approve.
  • Dixon / Annie sibling-ly love.

The Meh

  • The Max / Naomi break-up explanation: I’m actually glad the “OMFG Naomi is preggers” storyline got scrapped and replaced by the always handy “false-positive” route. But for me, it was a poor excuse for the break-up. Yes, Max is very future oriented and he reacted like any typical boy would under those circumstances. But their relationship had already survived so much crap that for this to break them up seemed out of left field. But of course, they had to make room for the shirtless cowboy. Speaking of…
  • Okay we get it, Mr. Cowboy is hot, and the show is obviously lacking in men with thighs like hams and abs you could do laundry on, but I bet he looks just as good in a shirt.
  • Foreshadowing of a Dixon / Ade friendship: Give Adrianna a friend aka Dixon, but please, do not have them hook up. This group is incestuous enough already.

The Bad

  • Navid’s sister. Already not a fan. GTFO my screen.

Wishlist: 90210 season 4

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Tomorrow marks the first day of the fall tv season. And I fully intend to spend the three hours of primetime in pure television bliss with 90210, Ringer and Parenthood. So what am I hoping is in store for our favorite Beverly Hill residents? Read on.

1. Proper send off for Teddy 

Once one of my most hated characters, Teddy has surprisingly become one of my favorites. And I am peeved that he will not be appearing regularly this season. But because his storyline was written and handled so well last year, I have complete faith that he will be given a proper and realistic send off. I would love for Ian to make a reappearance, although I doubt this will happen. I don’t care how they explain his character leaving, just as long as Teddy as happy.

2. A Lannie friendship

The 90210 season three preview shows Liam slamming an engagement ring box on the hood of the car and telling Annie that he’s ready. But since spoilers and new casting has indicated that Lannie will be ending fairly early into the season, I can only assume that the proposal doesn’t go too hot. Well, if I can’t have a Lannie relationship, I will settle for a friendship. I loved their friendly interactions at the end of season 2, but I hope they are revisited soon.

3. Save Adrianna

Adrianna Tate-Duncan isn’t exactly my fave character on 90210, but I still think that she suffered a hell of a character assassination last season. It’s obviously not going to be easy road back, as she did do a nice job at completely alienating herself from her posse, but I hope her character gets a major cleanup. She was great with Navid and deserves to be written well this season.

REVIEW: 2010-2011 Television Season

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I have always watched a crap-ton of tv, but this year seemed particularly heavy. I had at least two shows per day Monday thru Thursday and I discovered the brilliance of British television. It’s been a busy television season and on the whole, I’m satisfied with the finales we got.

Shows That Premiered This  Season…

After watching the pilot episode, I stuck with only four shows this year: Being Human, Shameless, Happy Endings and The Walking Dead. I always bitch about how much I hate American remakes of British tv shows…and yet two of them made the list. However, unlike Skins, these remakes are actually good. People have been listing Happy Endings on their comedy Emmy wishlists, and while I think that is a wee bit of a stretch, this show surprised me. Any sitcom revolving around a group of friends is immediately likened to, well, Friends. I found the overall premise of Happy Endings to be relatively weak, but the show definitely improved over the course of its short season.

FAVORITE NEW SHOW: Being Human, hands down. The show just gives such a fresh spin on the whole vamp-werewolf dynamic and it totally holds its own against the U.K. counterpart. Although, it’s official, I can’t stand the Josh/George character aka the werewolf in either version.

Discovered shows already on air…

This year, I discovered so many wonderful programs that are already on air. I love this, because then I have oodles of episodes to watch without an annoying hiatus. Thanks to blogs and mostly Tumblr, I had heard only high praises for the British shows, Misfits and Skins. Misfits is by far one of the funniest shows I’ve ever seen and I kind of have a crush on Robert Sheehan. I also randomly stumbled upon The Big Bang Theory bloopers on YouTube and even those made me crack up, which gave me the incentive to blindly purchase the dvds. And it’s amazing. I am making it my mission to attend a taping before I leave LA.

While I am still making my way through Parks and Recreation & 30 Rock, I have to say, I love NBC’s Thursday night comedy line-up. I know I am so late to The Office party, it’s not even funny. Within a course of 4 days, I watched every single episode on Hulu. What can I say? It was a boring finals week. And unlike other fans, I don’t think the show has necessarily lost its mojo, I for one, loved season 6. I caught the last few episodes of season 7 on air and while I do agree that it will be a different program, I think the show has potential to be great without Michael Scott / Steve Carell. One of my roomies always sang the praises of Chuck, so I gave that a try, too. It’s a great dramedy and I kind of have a crush on Zachary Levi, too.

FAVORITE NEW SHOW ALREADY ON AIR: This is such a tough decision because I love each and every one of the programs shown above. But it has to be Community. If Glee gets an Emmy nod and Community doesn’t, there’s officially no justice in the world. Even Community‘s “weaker” episodes are better than most shows’ best. And it’s two-parter paintball season finale was damn near flawless. Community‘s comedic style is exactly my cup of tea and I am officially the biggest Jeff & Annie fan ever. I would normally find a relationship between a 20-year-old girl and a guy who is nearly 40 to be disgusting, but they are absolutely adorbs. And to think I only discovered this gem because it was on sale at Target…I have so much love for Target.

Returning shows…

FAVORITE RETURNING SHOW / BEST OVERALL SEASON: This was really not a tough call, as a lot of these shows had lackluster seasons, The Vampire Diaries. Now, I am not one of those crazy TVD fans who stakes out polls on Entertainment Weekly until TVD reigns supreme, but this season was very strong overall. I am such a fan of Tyler & Caroline and I cannot wait to see where the writers take this storyline. We finally saw some progression in the Stefan / Elena / Damon triangle and Jeremy finally got some lovin’ and a relationship I approve of. No sophomore slump here.

ONE TREE HILL: Much like Glee becoming the Kurt Show at times, One Tree Hill morphed into the Brooke & Julian Show. And I love Brooke and Julian, but it was overkill with the babies. If the network would have let Mark Schwahn & crew do the abortion storyline intended for Brooke in season 4, it would have added another dimension to the fact that she is unable to have children. It just seemed too easy to have Brooke get magically pregnant, with twins no less. I love me some Stephen Colletti, but I think the fact that he is now a series regular says enough. We all know that One Tree Hill should have ended after season 6, if not season 4. Although OTH never racked up high numbers, as a long-time fan, it’s horrible to see how its fallen not only in ratings but in quality.

LIGHTS OUT: I won’t divulge too much because it hasn’t aired on NBC yet, but I thoroughly enjoyed the finale. It was the perfect end to a nearly-perfect show. Can we get some Emmy love, pwease?

I generally enjoyed 90210‘s season 3. I think the first half of the season why stronger, but it overall was exponentially better than Gossip Girl. The only thing I really liked about Glee season 2 was the return of Fuinn and we all know how that ended. As for Grey’s, hopefully this season will be its last and it can go out on a high note. It’s already losing its magic, I don’t buy any article that claims Grey’s is having a comeback. Just limit the Calzona, give Alex a substantial love interest, bring back Addison and reunite Mark & Lexie and you’ll be back on track.

So what’s going to be my summer obsession? Well, So You Think You Can Dance, obvi, but I also started watching Six Feet Under today and I’m loving it so far. I am also planning to spend this summer checking out Fringe, Parenthood, Modern Family and The Good Wife.  All I can say is, thank God for Netflix.

RECAP: 90210, The Enchanted Donkey

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Oh, 90210, how I have missed thee. I have anxiously awaited your return, but I’ve got to say, this episode was lackluster. Come on, Annie gets bitten by a monkey. Were you really that desperate for storylines Rebecca Rand Kirshner? The gang travels to Cabo for spring break to relax and forget their troubles. But in true teenage drama fashion, their problems follow them to the tropical paradise…

What I Floved…

  • Liam proves he is the best boyfriend ever: You don’t meet many guys who are willing to find a mariachi band to personally cheer you up and get up at 7:30 a.m. during spring break, you just don’t.
  • Teddy wants a relationship: After his little stint with his ex-roommate / Aquaman from Smallville, Teddy realizes he is tired of the endless string of one-night-stands and wants to be in a committed relationship. Tripp and Teddy also looked like brothers, that was kind of disturbing. I’d rather his real relationship be with Ian, but since the writers decided to write off one of their best characters, I’ll settle for Marco.
What I Was Indifferent About…
  • Ivy & Dixon: Ivy is addicted to pot. Dixon doesn’t have storyline. In my opinion, these two characters are just taking up valuable screentime at this point. Give them a good character arc before you waste my time.
  • Naomi & Max: Even though Max is by far my favorite love interest for Naomi to date, their relationship is a typical pairing that’s been overdone. It’s basically an episode of Beauty and the Geek. They need more drama before I will invest interest in them.
What I Could Have Done Without…
  • Adrianna / Navid / Silver: It’s about to be a what? Girl fight! The only tolerable moment of this wretched storyline tonight was Navid admitting that he wasn’t worth them losing a friendship. I completely agree with you here, Navid. You are not worth all of this. I wanted to throw up when Silver said she was falling in love with him (by the way, that swimsuit was ugly). And for a minute, I truly thought that all had been forgiven and this triangle from hell was finally over. But of course not. We’re just going to drag this out as long as possible. And now PsychoAdrianna is messing with Silver’s bipolar meds to get her revenge? This is really a new low, 90210, I can’t wait to see what the show will look like next season without the stench of RRK. Bring back the Navianna & Sixon!
Season three started out so great that I am a little disappointed in where these last episodes seem to be going. But this season is still miles better than season two. But at this point, I’m not sure that’s even an accomplishment. However, 90210 is still my ultimate guilty pleasure show and I will continue to be a loyal fan. Damn my dedication.

Quotables from the episode:

Annie: I don’t understand, I thought you hated all this stuff.
Liam: I may not be a guy who loves churros and swimming with dolphins, but I’m a guy who loves a girl who loves churros and swimming with dolphins.

Liam: Sushi in Mexico? That ends badly.

Naomi: Who needs water when we’ve got margaritas?

FALL SEASON REVIEW: 90210

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JMC119, you nasty whore. Thank you for taking over my life and making me pull two all-nighters in a single week. It’s a pretty big deal when I am willing to forgo my usual television watching routine to work on a project. For me, 7-9 p.m. is a sacred, untouchable time. Nothing and I mean nothing is going to keep me from watching my shows. I should get some major brownie points for my self-control. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what I call growth. And of course, once my schedule is finally free, it’s time for the winter hiatus. So I’m left with a bunch of lingering questions that won’t get answered for one to two months. Lovely.

I have a lot of catching up to do, so bear with me here…

I’m going to start with 90210. I am not even ashamed to tell people that I am obsessed with this show anymore. This season has been so good and I’m not easy to please. I still can’t stand Ivy, which I come to realize is mostly because of her name, but I am now such a fan of Teddy it’s not even funny. Last season, I hated Teddy with a fiery passion. He was the pawn that was going to ruin the already strained Dixon/Silver dynamic and I was not going to have that. But ever since the character of Ian was introduced, Teddy has become one of my favorites. And now that Teddy and I have finally made peace, I hear that Ian is leaving and a jock named Marco is going to be Teddy’s new boyfriend. Way to go writers, ruin my good mood.

90210’s fall season ended very nicely for me this past Monday. The entire forty and some odd minutes were loaded with cheese wiz and figgy puddings. Liam told Annie he loved her, Teddy finally fully came out to Ian, Naomi chose chicks over dicks and honored her friendship with Ivy instead of going for it with Oscar and Navid and Silver continued the typical 90210 pattern of constant cheating by succumbing to their built-up feelings and engaging in a lip-lock. For me, Oscar is only tolerable when he’s with Naomi. So either pair them up or kick him out. Silver with anyone but Dixon just doesn’t sit right with me and Navid…well, I’m sorry, but Joe Jonas > You. Oh and what about that cliffhanger? Naomi’s too busy turning Oscar down to realize that Mr. Cannon is back and is hiding in her house. I fully admit that that caught me completely off guard. Naomi seems pretty feisty, the girl could probably take Creeper Cannon down.

What am I hoping for second half of season three? Well, limited screen time for Ivy would be a great start.  But I’m sensing this won’t happen, so I’ll start with the more attainable items: I’d like to see Annie and Liam try to make it as a real couple. This, of course, would require Annie dumping Liam’s half-brother, Charlie and having a Charlie-free spring would make me very happy. He’s basically a less attractive version of Dr. Avery on Grey’s with a smoker’s voice.  Writers, please keep Teddy and Ian together at least for a few episodes.  Kyle Riabko aka Ian is way too good to be written off…*cough* make him a regular *cough*.  Now that Adrianna’s been exposed, I hope this means that stick that’s been up her ass for the past month has finally been yanked out. She’s going to have to be on her A-game once she realizes that one of her best friends and her boyfriend have been swapping spit behind her back. And can Dixon actually get a storyline? Now onto my more unrealistic wishes: Send Ivy and her scarily-identical mother out of Beverly Hills and somehow find a way to bring Silver out of her disturbing Navid-daze and put her back with Dixon. These are relatively simple requests and it would make one of your few fans happy.

I will leave you with my five favorite moments so far of 90210’s third season. If you are currently not watching this show, please put aside your judgments and give it a chance. It’s not brilliant by any means, but 90210 is definitely my current guilty pleasure show.

 

RECAP: 90210, How Much Is That Liam In the Window?

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Oh 90210, I have missed you, two weeks is just too long of a wait. I’m probably going to die during the long winter hiatus…no television = angry Kate.

Laurel / Oscar / Ivy / Dixon

The visual we’re slapped with first is Ivy and Oscar post-coitus. Insert Phoebe Buffay scream, “MY EYES! MY EYES!” Has anyone else noticed that seems to during every morning-after scene, the girl gets up and puts on some article of clothing with her back to the camera so just in case someone is slow, they can see that she’s naked. And then she just goes about her daily business bra-less. These scenes are usually met with an awkward encounter with either a parent and/or an ex and the girls are going completely free.

Oscar, you homewrecker, you. Sleeping with your friend to get back at your friend’s mother, who you slept with to get back at her for sleeping with your father and as a result of your father’s infidelity, your mother left your father…sounds like the perfect plan. Now that you have successfully pulled off your master plan, doesn’t this mean you’re leaving? Please say “yes.”

P.S. Grow up Ivy, Oscar’s ugly. And yes your mom is a whore.

Liam / Annie / Charlie

Liam is in desperate need of work. So desperate that he agrees to pose in a window and help customers at a clothing store…oh yeah, and he’s shirtless the entire time. Enter cougar who needs a errand runner and she’s offering him residence in her pool house a la Ryan Atwood in The O.C. Earth to Liam, people are not this nice. People suck. There’s got to be something else going on…surprise! She’s the mother of your “girlfriend” who is bat crazy for you.

Dear Charlie, I’d like you to make your exit from the Hills immediately. Annie may be so caught up in your French skills and your screenwriting abilities that she is blind to the fact that the only purpose of your character is to be a cock-block between her and Liam. I’m not that jaded. Please leave.

The half-bros also sport strange scars on their bodies that are reminiscent of serious fingernail scratches. I’m sensing this isn’t some sort of dual S&M thing, but this is tv land, I could be wrong.

Naomi

I probably should care more about the rape storyline since it’s a pretty serious issue, but I really don’t. I’m not the biggest fan of Naomi, she’s a watered-down version of Annalynne McCord’s character on Nip / Tuck. Ryan admits that he saw Mr. Cannon close the drapes the night Naomi was raped. Naomi and Silver visit Jen and the new baby with a teddy bear as a gift. Sensing that there may be a nanny-cam hidden in the teddy, Jen tears it to shreds with a knife…a part of me died watching the fluff massacre. After the demolition of the teddy, Jen finds out via baby monitor about the rape. Hopefully this storyline will be coming to a close soon, but I have a feeling it may be a season-long affair.

Navid / Adrianna & Silver

Adrianna’s creep of a boss forces her to pose topless for a photoshoot. She insists that she made the decision herself, but in a [completely original] surprise twist, Silver left her camera running at the shoot-site and captured CreepBoss coercing Ade into stripping. Ade finally admits to Navid that she stole songs from her deceased music partner and CreepBoss is threatening to go public. He forgives her, things are all good again, cue the sarcastic applause. Silver needs a legit storyline and she also needs to grow out her hair. I’m not digging the pixie cut.

I am so glad that my guilty pleasure television show keeps getting better. It’s easier to argue with people now that it’s a show worth watching.