The Good Wife's Great Coup - Lisa Edelstein, woo hoo!

I have no idea how The Good Wife managed to snag Lisa Edelstein so soon after her departure from House, but good on them, on her (Edelstein) and also on us, the viewers. I think it's a great catch.

In a multiple-episode arc in the upcoming third season, she "will play a lawyer and born poker player whose sexiness is enhanced by her obvious intelligence" and someone from Will's past. Hmm... look out, Alicia :P

As usual, I'm excited to see how this plays out in the fall :)

(Source: TVLine)

Hotch is back - yay!

It took a long while, but Thomas Gibson is back for another two years on Criminal Minds.

Phew.

I guess for "mid-to-high seven figures, plus a signing bonus, ...doubling his previous salary", I would rather keep fans in suspense too as to whether I was going to go back again on a show fraught with casting issues.

Kuchi-paku Dancing Lion Speaker Giveaway

Well, I'm not giving one away PERSONALLY - but the site 100milligrams.com is giving one away to celebrate their 1,000 Facebook fan milestone on Facebook.

If you don't know what it is, it's that animal speaker that was last seen on The Good Wife. You can find videos on YouTube.

Like the poster says: Become a fan to find out how to win.

I believe it's a global contest, so there's no harm in trying out for it where ever on the planet you may be.

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Fishburne not going back to CSI

Laurence Fishburne is not renewing his CSI contract, according to the TVLine.com piece here.

Frankly, I didn't really think he'd last very long on the small screen anyway, being a movies guy and all. 

Plus, not a lot of people took to his character like we all did with penguin-shuffle Grissom. I personally don't care one way or the other as it's still just a TV show after all. Almost every character on the show has had it rough in some way or another throughout the years, but losing a kidney to a psychopath is pretty tough too.

I just can't wait to see how Dr Ray Langston gets written out once the Nate Haskell arc is done with and Dr Ray leaves the Vegas crime lab one kidney less than when he came in. Will they promote one of the other characters, or will they bring back a recurring character to fill out the cast? I can't wait.

2011 MTV Movie Awards

I watch the MTV Movie Awards out of habit and because it's the award show to watch for people with short attention spans, and also for awards like Best Kiss and Best Line in a Movie.

The opening Hangover parody went a little over my head as I'm not stupid enough to ever want to watch The Hangover on purpose. But the point of these things are to remind us what the year's nominated movies are. Sudeikis and Lautner watching the girl-on-girl action scene from Black Swan? Heh.

I have no idea why they got Jason Sudeikis to host the MTV Movie Awards - I personally never thought of him as MTV hip, but what do I know? I think the guy was still in SNL mode as he spent half his monologue on making fun of Schwarzenegger to a crowd of mostly under 40. But the crack he made about Ashton Kutcher replacing older celebs personally and professionally? HILARIOUS... but that's because I also can't stand Ashton Kutcher.

I won't go in too much about the highlights because that's not hard to find on the interwebs.

While I'm sad that neither Inception or Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 didn't win more popcorn trophies, but I also have to remind myself that I'm not exactly their target audience, and it's still a popularity contest in the end.

I don't know about anyone else, but I think the Twilight movies should just take themselves out of the running next year. If Oprah can do it, so should they. Or perhaps I should just stop watching the MTV Movie Awards until 2014 because I'm just going to get myself all tweaked and annoyed for the next couple of years.

Jamie's 30 Minute Meals - Realistic, or no?

Been watching episodes of Jamie's 30 Minute Meals, and all I could think of was Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals (I know). I just can't believe it took him this long to get on the 30 minute meal bandwagon. It's also jarring to hear him suggest store-bought, prepacked alternatives after years of him going on about using fresh and natural ingredients.

What I like about the series

• Some of the tips, techniques and shortcuts that seriously didn't occur to me *D'OH!*
• His salad and dessert recipes

But seriously...

• The ingredients - NOT CHEAP and not just because I'm on the other side of the planet.
• Who has the time and money to equip their kitchen in a similar fashion? Seriously?
• The cleanup will take more than 30 minutes, I reckon :P
• Serving a dish on the same chopping board that you've chopped everything else on it? Really?

I read an article somewhere where several home cooks tried to pull off different 30 minute meal from Jamie's companion book to the series, only to fail miserably and take longer than 30 minutes.

I've come to several conclusions about Jamie Oliver's version of 30 Minute Meals - possible only if...

1. You're Jamie Oliver and/or have the crazy chef-y knife skills 
2. You really have the prep work done, which can't be fast :P
3. You got someone else to do the extra washing up - and the food processor and the other appliances he uses on the show need extra cleaning and care, like the garlic press :P

So I won't be crazy enough to buy the book, but goodness knows I already have several Jamie cookbooks that I may never cook out of.

Paget Brewster also back on board the Criminal Minds ship

Who's happy that BOTH Paget Brewster and AJ Cook are going to be back for the seventh season of Criminal Minds? I'm just curious as to how they'll be written back into the show as AJ Cook made a guest appearance in (literally) the last minute of the recent season finale, telling Rossi that she's coming back to the BAU. But as Prentiss is still presumably on the run (and also presumably dead) from the crazy Irishman... how is that going to work out?

If that's the case, it really means that Rachel Nichol's character Seaver is definitely not coming back for the new season. I hope that Seaver gets a nice exit and isn't just killed off willy nilly because her character happens to be a serial killer's daughter and also a rookie. Even a casual mention of her working in a different department is fine by me.

Good news aside, there's still no sign of Thomas Gibson coming back as his contract's not been ironed out yet. Here's hoping.

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Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza

After Whose Line Is It Anyway? and Drew Carey's Green Screen Show, there's now Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza on the Game Show Network (GSN).

It's mostly pretty much the same crew (Stiles, Mochrie, Esten, Sherwood, Proops, et al), save for a few faces that I don't recognise personally like Heather Anne Campbell and Jonathan Mangum (but I kind of remembered him from his brief stint on NCIS ).

At least in this one, everyone else gets a turn to host a game and even Drew gets to participate in more games than usual. 

Games I don't care for: Greatest Hits, Sound Effects, Moving People, Forward/Reverse - anything that involves actual audience members on stage or pointless singing.

Games I do like: Whose Line, Freeze Tag, Improv Jeopardy, First Date and Mousetrap

After watching about 20 episodes of Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza on the interwebs, I only have THIS to say: Drew Carey might be addicted to improv, but it's a little painful watching him do it on TV - he's not the fastest mind on the stage. 

But that alone shouldn't deter you from watching the show if you can or remember to.

CSI: NY renewed, yay!

It's old news, but bears repeating - CSI: NY is renewed another season.

It would be sad that it didn't get renewed just as Sela Ward was settling into her role as Jo Danville.

I still stand by that it's still a better CSI spinoff than CSI: Miami.

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No more Cuddy

I give Lisa Edelstein props for leaving instead of taking the pay cut for the next season of House.

Which begs the question: why is the show's budget getting cut after so many years anyway?

It also shouldn't be hard for the writers to write Cuddy out of the show - I'm hoping it won't be as drastic as how they wrote Kal Penn out.

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First Look: ABC's Charlie's Angels and Once Upon a Time (VIDEO)

Here's a first look at ABC's new offerings for the fall: Charlie's Angels and Once Upon a Time.

The gist: 

Get ready for the knockout hit of the year.  Charlie's Angels is back and hotter than ever.  Meet three ex-bad girls who are earning their wings by busting the really bad guys.  Together with legendary producer Leonard Goldberg and Drew Barrymore, Smallville's Alfred Gough and Miles Millar re-imagine the popular 1970's series with more action, more eye candy and more heart than ever before. 

The premise:

Everyone deserves a second chance.  Even a thief, a street racer and a cop who got in a little too deep.  After all, the three women who solve cases for their elusive boss Charlie Townsend are no saints - they're angels... Charlie's Angels.

This big, loud, fun take on the 1970's smash hit series introduces us to three new angels, all fearless operatives, head-turning beauties and close friends.  There's Abby (Rachael Taylor) a Park Avenue Princess who became a world-class thief.  Then there's Kate (Annie Ilonzeh), a Miami cop who fell from grace, losing both her career and her fiance.  Finally there's Gloria, a disgraced army lieutenant who has a way with explosives.  When one of the angels' missions ends in Gloria's tragic death, Charlie persuades them to partner with Gloria's childhood friend, Eve (Minka Kelly), a street racer with a mysterious past.  They may not know each other yet, but one thing's for sure--Abby, Kate and Eve will always have each other's backs.

Leonard Goldberg (the original Charlie's Angels) and Drew Barrymore (the Charlie's Angels movies) join forces with Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (Smallville) to deliver the adrenaline rush of the season.  Set in scorching-hot Miami, Charlie's Angelsdelivers nonstop big screen action.  With the help of Bosley 2.0 (Ramon Rodriguez), their hot, young technical expert, and the guidance of their enigmatic boss Charlie (Robert Wagner), these angels are an unstoppable crime fighting force.

CAST

Annie Ilonzeh - Kate Prince
Minka Kelly - Eve
Rachel Taylor - Abby Sampson
Ramon Rodriguez - Bosley
Robert Wagner - Voice of Charlie

CREDITS
Production Company - ABC Studios
Executive Producer - Edward Kitsis
Executive Producer - Adam Horowitz
Executive Producer - Steve Pearlman
Executive Producer/Director - Mark Mylod

I'm not sure if I'll have time for this - I know the fresh young blood is to attract the young people (who were most likely not even alive when the original TV series was around), but I really don't know who these girls are prior to this and have no name recognition with me personally. Even the younger, hotter Bosley doesn't help much. But with Drew Barrymore producing, who knows?

Connect with the show before it airs:
http://abc.go.com/shows/charlies-angels
http://www.Facebook.com/CharliesAngelsABC
http://www.twitter.com/AngelsABC

CBS Cancellations

CBS has cancelled Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, as well as Mad Love, The Defenders (another Jerry O' Connell show canned - D'OH), $#*! My Dad Says and CHAOS.

I couldn't get into $#*! My Dad Says cos it hits a little too close to (I don't think) just me, but also other unemployed young people who have to move back into their parents' house. Who wants to watch that?

I gave Suspect Behavior a shot, even though I didn't think it had a ghost of a chance in getting renewed because of the other procedural spinoffs. Now it just means that everyone has to move on to the next gig; Forest Whitaker included.

And I didn't bother with the rest because there's only so much TV one can watch.

Related articles

• CBS Cancels 'Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior'; Renews 'CSI: NY' (tvsquad.com)
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Hugh Laurie: One More Season of House?

Image via Wikipedia

There's reports in the media that Hugh Laurie thinks that he has got one more season of House in him before calling it quits.

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Quite frankly, I wouldn't be too upset if it's true: the show jumped its shark several seasons ago. The writing is not as great as it was in its first few seasons and there are many TV characters since that also bear the surly genius archetype. 

Maybe the quote is taken out of context. Who knows.

I watch the show merely out of habit now.

Of course one can also say that it's just a ploy for a long-overdue Emmy.

I don't think I'll miss it as much as I might Lie to Me. Just saying.

Is CSI:NY over?

Just when I was getting used to watching Sela Ward on CSI: NY, now you hear that it might not even be renewed for next year. WTF.

CSI: NY is still a step above CSI: Miami even though the latter came before. But screw Caruso and his sunglasses.

FOX Cancellations :(

FOX cancelled a whole load of shows to make room for news ones (and sodding American Idol). So far they've cancelled The Chicago Code, Traffic Light, Human Target, Breaking In... and sadly, Lie to Me didn't survive the cut, either. 

Those sons of bitches.

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Why I don't give a crap about GLEE

I get that people like it and find the show entertaining, but it's also literally not my cup of tea. Besides, I already have a buttload of shows I would rather catch up on if I am not already following diligently on a weekly basis. I don't have the time and the energy. I also notice that people who watch and like GLEE don't really have much else to watch. 'Nuff said. :P

While I like my TV, but I have my limits - one of them being that I refuse to watch young 20 to 30-something adults play teenagers on the screen. That's just not realistic, even though most white people look older than they actually are. That's why I don't watch shows set in schools. I don't need watch other people's fake on-screen high school experience for the sake of entertainment.

I get Ryan Murphy wanting to do a light, cheery show after nip/tuck, which was the polar opposite of GLEE, but STILL..

And I don't do well with anything where people spontaneously burst into song, either. It just annoys the shit out of me after awhile.

I swear, if I have to hear that damn Journey cover just ONE MORE TIME... *shake fist*

I also have to give Dave Grohl props for hating on the show as well as not giving them permission to do their songs on the show.

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Kuchipaku Animal Speakers on The Good Wife

Anyone who saw a recent episode of The Good Wife would recall this scene with Cary and his investigator Andrew Wiley at the latter's home about some missing interview pages.

I don't know about anyone else, but hearing the voice of Glenn Childs coming out of a dancing lion speaker gives me the giggles. So I give everyone in the scene props for keeping their faces straight.

Now I kind of want one of these. Anyone know where to get a reasonably-priced one? Never mind that it uses 3 AA batteries to move like that, but they're pretty cute.

Reaction: America's Next Great Restaurant

I was personally a little disappointed that Spice Coast didn't win America's Next Great Restaurant, but he turned it into the Indian Chipotle, which must give Steve Ells a boner thinking about it. So disappointing. The guy shouldn't have become Steve Ells's bitch. Curtis was so disappointed that Sudhir basically sold out his Indian culture. I think he would've won if he didn't.

Did anyone noticed that there wasn't even a dramatic pause for when Bobby Flay announced the winner? I think I watch way too many of these shows to notice these things. 

I probably should've seen it coming as the Soul Daddy dude's been under the radar as well as not being in the hot seat as much as some of the other contestants on the show. At the same time, I'm also glad that Brooklyn Meatball Company didn't win as well just because.

I have no idea whether there will be another season of America's Next Great Restaurant, but I kind of hope there won't be - it was a pretty rough season to watch.

Random thoughts while watching the royal wedding on TV

I was one of millions of suckers around the planet who saw Friday's royal wedding on TV... well, on the cable news channels anyway. I'm just glad that I don't have to wake up early to watch (like in the US), or stay up too late to watch it - it was on sometime in the evening in my time zone, which wasn't too bad really.

I had my pick of channels to watch the pre-wedding banter/coverage from but I stuck with CNN's coverage, where Anderson Cooper was the odd American on the panel besides Piers Morgan (CNN's token Brit) and Cat Deeley (why? so that Piers wouldn't be the only Brit there?) and also the occasional special guest. CNN also had Vera Wang on standby in New York as someone known for her wedding gowns. I mostly stuck with CNN because of Piers Morgan's snark: he was making fun of Anderson Cooper's choice of suit, etc - it was like having Simon Cowell cover the wedding. It was funny.

• Philip Treacy must be making a killing on the hats that a lot of the women were wearing to Westminster Abbey, including Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice.
• Some of the women's hats are really ridiculous.
• David Beckham and his hair slicked back like that reminded me of Ricky Gervais. Shit you not - same smile, even. Are there pictures of Beckham wearing his top hat before he got there? It'd be a shame if he brought the top hat for nuts.
• Give the British PM's wife props for not being in a stupid hat.
• You can't help but feel bad for the people whose view was blocked by the damn trees in the Abbey.
• I did like the bride's dress - remind me to get lace sleeves like that for hiding the sausage arms :P
• Saw E!'s coverage (with Giuliana Rancic as the lone American on THAT panel) - pretty meh, even though they got Facebook in on the game with them.
•  So's everyone else's royal wedding coverage, really - like TLC and the lot.

Iron Chef America

Started catching up on Iron Chef America (ICA) this week after a couple of missed seasons. I didn't know there were TWO new Iron Chefs now - Iron Chefs Garges and Forgione, who won their respective seasons of The Next Iron Chef (which I've also not seen since its first season). 

What can I say - after missing a few seasons of ICA, I still think it's pretty damn entertaining and hilarious, like the sound effects used, particularly during the challenger's entrance and whenever the Chairman moves his head. You know the ones. Hearing those sounds always cracks me up.

I've gotten over the common-ness of the "secret" ingredient and the behind the scenes stuff - it's still a fun show to watch and still one of my favourite Food Network shows after Good Eats.