Penny's Lovers

With all the available actresses in Hollywood, I wonder why the same people continue to be cast on my favorite shows.For example, there is Sonya Walger.

Anyone notice that on "Lost" Desmond looks eerily like a cross between Penny's (Sonya) two "lovers" on "Flash Forward," Lloyd Simcoe and husband Detective Mark Benford? Her taste in men have come a long way from Mickey Barnes ("The Mind of the Married Man') and Palek ("Tell Me You Love Me"). Yet no matter who the man is, she always gets that same dreamy, loving look on her face?

At least she doesn't lose her head, like what happened to her in "Sleeper Cell."

Help! The 'Suits' are Ruining My Favorite Shows!

I am growing increasingly miffed by the broadcast network's (probably more specifically ABC's) handling of the whole “winter break” scenario when it comes to scripted series.
It is obvious that decisions are being made by the “suits” rather than the creative types, but isn't that always the case with the networks, and probably one of the primary reasons why their ratings have tumbled over the years.
(As an aside, nobody used the word “suits” better and with more venom than director Billy Walsh on “Entourage,” when filming the bomb “Medellin” that almost ruined Vince's career. In this one case the “suits” were probably right.)
I can understand taking a few weeks off from series so the networks can air “Frosty the Snowman” and “Carrie Underwood: An All Star Holiday Special.” And I do look forward to seeing “National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation” and Bing Crosby in both “Holliday Inn” and “White Christmas” for the umpteenth time every December.
But why can't my favorite series return in January? Supposedly the “suits” are afraid of competing with NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics, but do you know anyone who actually religiously watches the Winter Games on a nightly basis, other than relatives of competitors? OK, the Opening Ceremonies are interesting for about 45 minutes, but by the time the Finnish national team comes marching in, I am ready to change the channel out of boredom.
Yes, the figure skating usually draws decent ratings, but does it make sense for the “suits” at Fox and ABC to alter their programming to avoid competing with the luge or biathlon events? Moreover, the Olympics are only on for two weeks in February. Yet some shows are now on “winter break” until March! In fact “V” won't return until March 30!
I do agree that shows with serialized story lines like “Lost,” “24,” and “Prison Break” are best seen when aired in consecutive episodes without repeats or preemptions. But last week's announcement that “FlashForward” will now not return until March 4 makes absolutely no sense to at all. For me, one of the really exciting attributes of this show was its ties to the real world calendar.
One of the show's major plot lines focused on learning that FBI agent Demitri Noh is supposed to be murdered on March 10, and (as we discovered last week) the murderer is supposedly his partner Mark Benford (or at least the murder weapon is Benford's gun). It was going to be fascinating to see how developments over the coming weeks and months would (might?) lead to Demitri's demise.
But now the show is returning just a week before the predicted murder, so what's the point? And for everyone else, the “flash forward” vision that they saw was to occur (writer's note: it certainly is difficult to figure which tenses to use when writing about this show) on April 29, 2010. So when the show returns on March 4, are we supposed to wonder what has transpired over the past three months? Or have the “suits” dictated that they will just be picking up the action right after the last episode, aired on December 3? The whole tie-in with real time dates was much of the fascination of the show. Now that whole concept has been seriously compromised, if not ruined.
I recently read an interview with “FlashForward's” creator, David Goyer, who said that the show was originally scheduled to return in January, but the decision to push it back until March (by the “suits,” of course) was in fact because the network did not want to compete with the Winter Olympics.
Goyer further said that certain episodes have been “swapped out” and others are being rewritten. All I can say is that I am glad I am not a writer on the show. As far as I am concerned, the ABC “suits” are crippling the show and probably killing it, as NBC did a few years ago with the promising series “Jericho,” which also went on a three-month hiatus.
Of course I will certainly follow “Lost” to the end, but I think I will look long and hard at any broadcast network serialized show in the future before getting too caught up in the plot. I still fill burned by the cancellation of the ABC series “The Nines” two years ago, which just halted production in the middle of the season, without any plot resolution.
The same holds true for another ABC series “Invasion,” which was cancelled after one season just when things were getting interesting. It is one thing when a sitcom or a drama without a serialized story arc is cancelled, but it is quite another when viewers invest time and energy into following a serialized show that just ends abruptly.
So I think I will just stick to cable networks such as HBO and Showtime, which run such great series as “True Blood” and “Dexter” in consecutive weeks and aren't afraid to compete with “A Muppet's Christmas.”

'Lost' to Premiere on Groundhog Day!

Now we know when the sixth and final season of “Lost” will begin. According to the ABC press release, the show will debut on Tuesday, February 2. The evening will kick off at 8 pm with a one-hour recap, followed by a two-hour premiere episode.
I am one of those obsessed “Lost” fans who analyze and dissect every fact connected with “Lost.” So what immediately jumped out at me is the realization that February 2 is Groundhog Day! Coincidence? I think not.
Actually the movie “Groundhog Day” starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell has always been one of my favorites. And what is the main theme of “Groundhog Day?” Simply that Murray's weatherman character Phil Connors MUST relive the day over and over until he “gets it right.” That is, he stops being a conceited a-hole and matures into a warm, caring, almost heroic person.
And his efforts to woo and win over his assistant Rita also evolve, as his initial obnoxious, caveman-like efforts are totally rebuffed, until he finally learns to listen to her, understand her, and mature into a responsive, sincere, self confident human being…without losing his sense of humor.
It is the perfect analogous movie for the final season of “Lost” to emulate. For example several of his repeated “Groundhog Days” end with Phil attempting to kill himself, but he always wakes up the following day. Sound familiar, doesn't it? Remember, “Lost's” season five ended with everyone on the island being blown up by a hydrogen bomb that they intentionally set off!
And let's talk about how he wakes up, precisely at 6 am with his alarm clock radio going off blaring Sonny and Cher's song “I Got You Babe.” I can think of several “Lost” episodes that began with someone waking up to music, including Dr. Chang at the beginning of last season's finale.
I will go out on a limb and predict that season six's opening scene will include a sleeping person being woken up by a song playing on the radio. If that song happens to be “I Got You Babe,” (or any Sonny and Cher song, since “Lost's” producers tend to be somewhat subtle) well, I think I should be moved into the “Lost” Super Fan Hall of Fame!
Also take a look at the way that Phil changed and evolved to finally win over Rita. Is this what Jack must now do to become the man that Kate always thought he could become and truly love?
(Aside from “Lost,” a lot of men who wonder why women continuously blow them off could learn a lesson or two by watching how Phil matures in the movie.)
I am sure there are other tie-ins between “Groundhog Day” and “Lost,” and I certainly plan on renting the movie and watching it before February 2, 2010.
Overall, both “Groundhog Day” and “Lost” contain the similar theme of some mysterious outside force causing the main characters to do things over until they “get it right.”
I have also tried to examine the significance of “Lost” moving from its usual Wednesday evening time slot to Tuesdays. There is some Internet speculation the move is simply because ABC has finally developed a strong Wednesday, 9:00 lineup, with “Modern Family” followed by “Cougar Town.”
But I keep coming back to the fact that since Groundhog Day falls on a Tuesday next year, the move was absolutely necessary.
What do you think?

Favorite Actor 'Crossovers'

You know what’s really annoying?
How about when you are watching one of your favorite shows and you spot an actor or recognize a voice, and you just KNOW that you have seen him or her before, but you just can’t quite remember when or where?
I don’t know about you, but that type of thing just sticks in my mind and drives me nuts for hours or sometimes even days. In my case it might just be an “age thing.”
I call such cases where an actor or actress appears on different shows “crossovers,” and in the public interest, from time to time, I will list interesting (at least to me) crossovers that I have spotted.
A similar type of crossover occurs when you are watching an old “Bonanza” or “M*A*S*H” rerun and spot someone, perhaps a child actor who is still acting as an adult today, and you know he or she looks very familiar, but can’t quite place the name, face, or voice.
So here are some recent crossovers that I have uncovered:
* To me the “Queen of Crossovers” is Sonya Walger, who is currently Dr. Olivia Benford on “FlashForward,” and Penny Widmore on “Lost.” It does perturb me a bit when the same actress appears on two shows that are on air at the same time. But I also recall Sonya as Carolyn (who desperately wanted to get pregnant) on HBO’s short-lived “Tell Me You Love Me” and Special Agent Patrice Serxner on USA Cable’s “Sleeper Cell,” where she actually was beheaded! I also enjoyed her on another HBO show, “The Mind of the Married Man,” where she played the actor Michael Binder’s wife, Donna Barnes.
* Recently on “FlashForward” I recognized a certain British accent, and I just knew that I had heard that voice before, but could not place it. Eventually I realized that the actor (Jack Davenport) who plays Lloyd Simcoe, the father of the autistic boy Dylan AND the man who is involved with Sonya Walger (of course) in her flashforward, starred as Steve Taylor on my favorite British television show “Coupling.”
* In a great scene between two apparent “villains,” Davenport appeared on “FlashForward” with Dominic Monaghan who was the sweet and lovable “Chah-lie” Pace on “Lost,” but now plays the menacing Simon.
* Another popular actress who seems to be popping up everywhere these days is Embeth Davidtz, who also is recognizable by her short cropped hair and her clipped British accent. Embeth seems perfectly cast as a somewhat uptight bitchy woman on “Californication” as Felicia Koons, a sexually-frustrated college administrator, and on “Mad Men” as Rebecca Pryce, the home sick, miserable wife of Lane Pryce, the British bloke who now runs the Sterling Cooper agency. But Embeth was at her bitchiest best playing the unhappy wife Amy on the first season of HBO’s “In Treatment.”
* Speaking of “Mad Men,” when I first saw Elisabeth Moss’s Peggy Olson character, I knew that she looked very familiar, and after a great deal of anguish (yes I take these crossover hunts very seriously), I remembered that she had played the President’s kidnapped daughter, Zoey Bartlet, on the great “West Wing” series.
* Recently I was watching one of my daughter’s favorite movies from years ago, “Fly Away Home,” (crossovers can also apply to movies) about a young girl who becomes attached to a flock of geese (actually the geese become attached to her), and I immediately realized that the girl was played by none other than Anna Paquin, better know these days as Sookie Stackhouse of “True Blood.”
* Want another “True Blood” crossover? How about Michelle Forbes, who played the demon (or should I say the Maenad?) Maryann Forrester and who also appeared on both seasons of “In Treatment” as Kate, the cheating but misunderstood wife of series star, Paul Weston.
* A really good obscure crossover is the character actor, John Billingsley, who has perfected playing such nerdy misfits as Mike Spencer on “True Blood,” and whom I loved in the short-lived hostage series “The Nine,” where he played Egan Foote, the nerd turned hero.
* Of course one of the all-time classic crossovers occurred when E Street Band guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt donned a black toupee and turned up as Silvio Dante, owner of the Bada Bing strip club on “The Sopranos.”
Anyway, I would love to hear from any readers who might suggest their favorite crossovers. But remember a quality crossover (like a quality trivia question) cannot be too obvious. Don’t send me Elizabeth Mitchell who plays Juliet Burke on “Lost” and FBI agent Erica Evans on “FlashForward” or Michael C. Hall, aka Dexter Morgan and David Fisher from “Six Feet Under.”
A much better “Dexter” crossover would be James Remar, who portrays Dexter’s dead father Harry Morgan and who was multi-millionaire Richard Wright, the a-hole who cheated and broke Samantha’s heart on “Sex and the City.”