Posts Tagged ‘ABC’

Sidelined Henry needs some better parents on Once Upon a Time

- April 15th, 2013

jga

Maybe part of what’s occurring on Once Upon a Time this season can be explained by the wisdom of Patty and Selma Bouvier on The Simpsons.

In a long-ago episode of The Simpsons where they were flashing back to the story of Lisa’s first words, toddler Bart, feeling threatened by baby Lisa, was preening for attention.

Bart’s aunts Patty and Selma glared at him. One of them coldly observed, “The older they get, the cuter they ain’t.”

Same could be said for most of us, to be fair.

But does that philosophy relate to the conspicuous sidelining of Henry, played by Jared Gilmore, on Once Upon a Time?

It’s the perfect week to consider the state of sophomore fantasy drama Once Upon a Time, which airs Sundays on ABC and CTV. This past Sunday, a new retrospective episode titled “The Price of Magic” looked back at how the residents of Storybrooke have handled themselves and their surroundings since their fairy-tale memories were restored.

Season one had a very cool framework: Fairy-tale characters had been cursed to live in our world, unaware of their true identities.

This season the characters realize who they are – Snow White, Prince Charming, the Evil Queen, Rumpelstiltskin, Pinocchio, Red Riding Hood, Jiminy Cricket, etc. Some of them want to get back to their own world and some of them don’t. But as it stands, if they leave Storybrooke and venture into any other part of our world, their minds go blank and they forget everything.

The thing that’s exasperating about the Henry character this season is that he is experiencing some of the worst parenting in TV history.

With all manner of dangerous and magical mayhem occurring, every time Henry walks into a room, the adults awkwardly change the subject. “Don’t tell Henry” is by far the most repeated phrase on Once Upon a Time.

Don’t tell Henry? Are you serious?

Henry is the reason all of this is happening in the first place!

It was Henry who brought his biological mom Emma (Jennifer Morrison) to Storybrooke, because only he understood that Emma could break the curse.

So now, after Henry spent a year convincing the dim adults in his life that they unwittingly were trapped in something beyond their comprehension, those same adults are patronizing him?

To paraphrase Jack Nicholson‘s Col. Jessep character in the movie A Few Good Men, “You don’t think Henry can handle the truth?”

I’ll bet he can. He probably even can help.

I know Henry isn’t as cute as he was in season one. Perhaps it has affected his camera time. It happens with child actors. In real life, Gilmore turns 13 next month.

But that merely emphasizes Henry is getting older, not younger. He should be able to handle more, not less. They’ve turned the character into an annoying little resentful wimp.

Apparently even fairy-tale heroes can be crappy moms and dads.

bill.harris@sunmedia.ca

@billharris_tv

 

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Categories: Television | 1 comment

On-air seizure, mocked by Kimmel; Global’s Mark McAllister opens up about his epilepsy

- March 7th, 2013

screen grab

When Global TV news reporter Mark McAllister suffered through an attack of on-air verbal gobbledygook in March 2011, most observers just assumed it was some kind of screwup rather than anything more serious.

ABC late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel played the clip on his show the next evening, commenting that it seemed as if McAllister was reading “from a melted teleprompter.” Kimmel played the clip both backward and forward, to show that there wasn’t much difference. Kimmel then concluded, “Does anyone here speak Canadian?”

In all fairness to Kimmel, he couldn’t have known there was something medically amiss with McAllister. Heck, McAllister didn’t know. But subsequently, McAllister was diagnosed with epilepsy, a disease that affects one in every 100 Canadians.

This Saturday, March 9, Global is airing a half-hour feature titled Focus Ontario: Inside Epilepsy. McAllister speaks openly about his on-air seizure and the fallout, which eventually led to his diagnosis.

Produced to coincide with Epilepsy Awareness Month, Focus Ontario: Inside Epilepsy provides an in-depth look at the medical efforts to understand, treat and explain the disorder. The special will share personal stories of those living with epilepsy and analyze the stigma of the condition, which often frustrates efforts to raise awareness.

Focus Ontario: Inside Epilepsy airs Saturday at 5:30 p.m. (Eastern time), on Global.

bill.harris@sunmedia.ca

@billharris_tv

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Categories: Television | 7 comments

The Amazing Cult on the March to the Jeselnik Offensive; TV must-sees for this week

- February 17th, 2013

Amazing Race cast - season 22

 

Bill Harris’ TV must-sees for the week of Feb. 17:

 

1) The Amazing Race

Why you should watch: So, everybody keeps trying to tell me what a “small world” it is. So how is it that this series is entering its 22nd season (participants are pictured above) and they still keep finding exotic places to visit in different countries? Ex-NHL player Bates Battaglia is one of the competitors this time.
When: Sunday on CBS, CTV

 

2) Cult

Why you should watch: In the series debut, investigative journalist Jeff Sefton (Matt Davis) begins to delve into the dark underworld of a TV show called Cult, and its super-devoted fans. Yes, it’s one of those show-within-a-show things.

When: Tuesday on CW, CTV Two

 

3) Killing Lincoln

Why you should watch: Narrated on-screen by Tom Hanks and starring Billy Campbell in the title role, this two-hour historical drama isn’t a biopic, but rather focuses specifically on the assassination of the 16th president of the United States.

When: Sunday on National Geographic Channel

 

4) Leverage

Why you should watch: In the series finale, Nate (Timothy Hutton) takes a case linked to his son’s death. But when the job goes bad, Interpol interrogates Nate and tries to figure out not only what went wrong, but also what he really was seeking.

When: Monday on Super Channel

 

5) March to the Top

Why you should watch: A documentary about emotional and physical rehabilitation as 12 injured Canadian soldiers attempt to work together to climb the 20,305-foot Island Peak in Nepal.

When: Full-length version Sunday on Documentary Channel; one-hour version Monday on CBC

 

6) Come Date With Me

Why you should watch: An offshoot of the series Come Dine With Me, this new foray sees four eligible suitors try to out-dine, out-shine and out-date each other for the heart of one hottie. You know, just like every night in all bars.

When: Wednesday on W

 

7) The Jeselnik Offensive

Why you should watch: Comedian Anthony Jeselnik has produced some of the most fearless, or offensive, or hilarious Tweets (depending upon your point of view) that I ever have read. You may have seen him on some of those celebrity roasts. Now he gets his own series.

When: Tuesday on Comedy

 

8) Revenge

Why you should watch: The Graysons host their annual Labour Day party – my God, these people throw a lot of parties. Meanwhile, Jack and “Faux-manda” embark upon what is sure to be a stress-free honeymoon.

When: Sunday on ABC, City

 

9) The Good Wife

Why you should watch: Tensions flare when Will and Diane ask Alicia and Cary to face off against them in a mock trial. Hey, remember “Mock Trial with J. Reinhold” on Arrested Development? Now that was funny.

When: Sunday on CBS, Global

 
10) Once Upon a Time

Why you should watch: While Mr. Gold (Robert Carlyle), Emma (Jennifer Morrison) and Henry (Jared Gilmore) seek out Mr. Gold’s son in New York, Regina (Lana Parrilla) attempts to track down one of Rumplestiltskin’s most treasured possessions back in Storybrooke.

When: Sunday on ABC, CTV

 

bill.harris@sunmedia.ca

@billharris_tv

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Lennon and Maisy (Jude) Stella on Nashville; they love you, yeah yeah yeah

- October 22nd, 2012

Lennon and Maisy Stella

Just call them the Fab Two.

Lennon Stella, 13, was named after John Lennon.

Maisy Stella, 8, has Jude for a middle name.

But despite those Beatles connections, it’s through country music – specifically the TV show Nashville, which airs Wednesdays on ABC and CTV Two – that the Canadian Stella sisters have increased their profile dramatically.

Lennon (above left) and Maisy (above right) are playing the daughters of Connie Britton’s character in Nashville. In the episode airing this week (Oct. 24), Lennon and Maisy will be performing on the show for the first time.

In real life, Lennon and Maisy are the daughters of Canadian country music duo the Stellas, a.k.a. dad Brad and mom Marylynne.

“Yes, we’re all still a little confused as to what’s going on, but it’s all so positive and so good,” said Lennon, when asked if her parents are freaking out a little bit about everything that has happened to the girls over the past few months.

“It’s the weirdest thing, but it’s so neat. It’s such a compliment. It’s so flattering.”

Added Maisy, “For me, like Lennon said, it’s people knowing me (that is the biggest difference). But all my friends are really happy.”

After the Nashville pilot was shot, the makers of the series fell in love with Lennon and Maisy and added them to the cast. And this was before a cool YouTube video of Lennon and Maisy singing Robyn’s Call Your Girlfriend went viral.

“I started playing guitar when I was about five, so I’ve sang sort of more seriously ever since then,” Lennon said. “But we’ve really sang together from like birth.”

“I actually started singing, because I remember, when I was like two,” Maisy said.

Don’t you suddenly feel very old?

So girls, what’s the best part about being on a big, high-profile TV show?

“The best part is probably just the makeup, because I love doing dress-up and the makeup is just so fun,” Maisy said. “We get to go to wardrobe and we just love dressing up.”

“Meeting all the new people, because everyone has been so supportive and so welcoming in all of this, so it has been such a fun place to be,” Lennon said. “So probably for me, it’s the people that we’ve been able to meet.”

Lennon and Maisy both indicated that, despite the show that they’re on and their parents’ career path, their personal musical tastes tend to drift away from country. Lennon leans more toward indie and alternative music, while Maisy likes indie, too, as well as a lot of mainstream stuff.

Getting started in show business so young, though, means they both have their whole lives ahead of them to do anything, either in entertainment or elsewhere.

“Like you were saying, our family is so musical in every way, so it always has been a dream of mine to become a performer,” Lennon said. “But I also always have wanted to be a teacher.”

“Like Lennon said, we’ve always wanted music and acting,” Maisy said. “But I’ve always wanted to be a doctor and a vet.”

The Stella sisters’ teaching and veterinary aspirations won’t be on display right away on Nashville. We’ll have to wait for a spinoff.

For now, Lennon and Maisy Stella will take a sad song and make it better. With musical parents and Beatle names, the audience can open their ears and let it be.

bill.harris@sunmedia.ca

@billharris_tv

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Don’t Trust the B, but do trust the Beek – James Van Der Beek, that is

- October 17th, 2012

Don't Trust the B cast

James Van Der Beek has some clear comedic guidelines about the person he refers to as “fake JVDB.”

That acronym stands for “fake James Van Der Beek,” which is Van Der Beek’s character on Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23.

The sitcom returns for its second season Monday, Oct. 21 on Citytv, and then a day later on its network of origin in the United States, ABC.

“For us, the whole formula, or rather the ingredients, the recipe, is to make sure that No. 1, nobody is ever really feeling sorry for me,” Van Der Beek said. “Because if you’re feeling bad for me, you’re not laughing.

“So as long as that’s not happening, we can go as far in the other direction as we want.”

Van Der Beek, of course, is best known for playing Dawson Leery on Dawson’s Creek, which aired from 1998 to 2003.

In Don’t Trust the B, Van Der Beek – who is behind the bar in the cast picture above – plays a fictionalized version of his present-day self, who happens to be friends with lead character Chloe, played by Krysten Ritter.

“What’s great about this show is that it’s really anchored by the two girls (Ritter and Dreama Walker, as June),” Van Der Beek said. “So it gives me a long leash to venture into bizarro land.

“We experimented with how far we can take it before people go, ‘Oooohhhh.’ And what we kind of touched upon is, we can be as narcissistic as we want to be, and we can have really bad things happen to him, as long as this fake version of me is talented. Even if he’s talented in a savant-ish way, you know?

“He’s borderline Rain Man when it comes to stuff like acting or dancing or whatever. But as long as he’s good at everything generally, then we can have all sorts of hijinks and pratfalls.”

In the second-season premiere of Don’t Trust the B, James goes against Chloe’s advice and starts investigating the possibility of a Dawson’s Creek reunion. Busy Philipps – a Dawson’s Creek alumnus – makes a cameo appearance in the episode, as do Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Frankie Muniz.

Asked about the prospect of a real-life Dawson’s Creek reunion, Van Der Beek just shook his head.

“Honestly, the only time we talk about it is when you guys (reporters) ask about it,” he said. “Everybody asks every single one of us at every single press thing, and it’s the only time we talk about it.”

Indeed, the heyday of Dawson’s Creek – which also featured the likes of Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams and Joshua Jackson – is a long time ago now. But both the real and fake James Van Der Beeks are doing just fine, courtesy of Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23.

“This fake me is kind of lovably pompous and very self-absorbed,” Van Der Beek said. “When you pop that bubble, I kind of like those moments. I love it when the rug is pulled out from under him.

“If I didn’t have a sense of humour about myself, this would be the saddest job I’ve ever had.”

bill.harris@sunmedia.ca

@billharris_tv

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