Saturday, March 3, 2012

TELEVISION: The top entertainment moments of the week

There was a lot going on this week on the entertainment front.

There was the news that ‘Jersey Shore’s’ Snooki was pregnant – which propelled everyone that knows her to put Social Services on speed dial.

There was the Twitter sensation that was Angelina Jolie’s leg following its strange debut at the Academy Awards last Sunday.

There was the ‘is it or isn’t it’ debate regarding a possible wardrobe malfunction by Jennifer Lopez at the Oscars (she says it wasn’t a slip, everyone else thinks it was – or maybe they just hope).

There was Nancy Grace’s appearance on ‘The View’ – where she still refused to back down from her assertion that Whitney Houston might have been murdered.

And there was even some sad news, when former The Monkees front man Davey Jones died and ‘Hawaii 5-0’ star Alex O’Loughlin checked himself into rehab for addiction to prescription pain medication -- forcing him to miss one of the final episodes of the season.

Narrowing the list down wasn’t easy, but here goes. The top moments in entertainment this week are:

5.  I don’t watch the OWN network, but I do watch Jimmy Fallon on occasion. It’s no secret that Oprah Winfrey’s network is struggling, but Jimmy Fallon’s suggestions on segments that would help the network were downright hilarious. Most people liked ‘Book Club Fight Club’ (and it was downright funny) but my personal favorite was ‘Oprah Repos Her Favorite Things.’ Either way, Winfrey proved she can laugh at herself and Fallon continues to prove he can laugh at everybody.


4. It has been almost two seasons in the making, but Rick and Shane finally had their long awaited smack down on AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead.’ Ironically, the fight didn’t stem from the fact that Shane slept with Rick’s wife and might be the father of her unborn baby, no it stemmed from an argument about what they should do with a refugee. Rick wanted to think about it and Shane wanted to blow the kid’s brains out. To me, the most interesting part of the argument was Shane owning what he did to Otis like it was nothing. Rick’s response surprised me, too. It was almost like he didn’t care. I still believe Shane will be dead by season’s end, but it was nice to see Rick save him from a group of walkers despite their bloody fight. I think Rick will realize he made a mistake sooner – rather than later – in that respect, though. 

3. ABC’s ‘Modern Family’ is always funny. All the characters are richly detailed and they often find themselves in hilariously mundane situations. This week was no different. In one story, Mitchell was planning Cameron’s 10th birthday party (he was born on Feb. 29 – long story) and he had to change it at the last minute (much to the chagrin of Cameron who thought that Mitchell didn’t care). In the end, Mitchell realized that Cameron wasn’t freaking out about the party, but because he was turning 40. It was a surprisingly sweet moment. The funniest storyline – for me at least – revolved around the Dunphy clan and Phil’s realization that something he thought was a myth – women’s cycles syncing up in the same house – was actually a reality. He termed the event “Monstration” – and the scenes that ensued were fittingly hilarious. The best part of the episode is when all three of the women turned their collective negative energy into getting Phil what he wanted for the day – a chance to fly on a trapeze.

2. USA’s phenomenally funny ‘Psych’ returned this week with an episode that was not only hilarious but poignant as well. The second half of the season opened up with a literal bang, when the recurring art thief Pierre Despereaux (played by the appropriately smarmy Cary Elwes) showed up for his usual hijinks and then was promptly blown up in a boating accident.  What followed was a hilarious Shawn and Gus fight (“You brought a funeral program to a knife fight?”) and even a touching moment when Shawn, who had deluded himself into believing that Despereaux wasn’t really dead, had his heart crushed by the realization that he was indeed dead. This is ‘Psych,’ though, and the one thing the show isn’t is a downer. Thankfully, Despereaux was saved and Shawn and Gus’ friendship remains intact. After all, that’s really all we want from ‘Psych’ isn’t it?

1.  Rush Limbaugh has made a name out of, well, making a name for himself. This week, though, he set off a firestorm when he referred to a law student speaking out about birth control as a “slut.” We’re used to this type of thing from Rush, he gets his listeners by being as obnoxious as possible. It was the reaction – in this case by media, sponsors and comedians – that was the true entertainment factor. Four sponsors —including a mattress company -- dropped Limbaugh and women everywhere expressed outrage – while comedians like Bill Maher had more material than they could use in their opening monologues. This is the second time that the GOP has went after women’s reproductive rights/contraceptives in recent weeks and this is the second time it blew up in their faces. Maybe they should pick another social issue. This one doesn’t seem to be working for them.

Honorable mentions:

One Tree Hill: I didn’t believe for a second that it was Nathan under that sheet when Hayley was called to the morgue to identify a body. I don’t think the OTH writers are dumb enough to kill the show’s central couple in the final season. That being said, Clay’s “forgotten son” could be one of the dumbest stories this show has ever given us (and that’s saying something). I did like the Chase scenes – especially him being dragged away in the cop car – but the worst thing about this season of OTH is that absolutely no one is having any fun. We’ve got several psychos running around, Mouth is fat, Chase is going to jail, Julian is still wallowing in guilt, etc. OTH was never great television – but it did used make me laugh.

Criminal Minds: The show has been kind of boring lately, but the tale of a paraplegic killing women to make himself feel better – all the while being aided by a guilty alcoholic father (the always engaging William Russ) and a psychotic and manipulative mother (way to go Kathy Bates) was engrossing television. It might not always be pretty, but sometimes the cases on ‘Criminal Minds’ are gripping. This was one instance. Plus, it was nice to see Hotchner actually crack as smile when he introduced his new girlfriend to his son.

Hawaii 5-0: James Caan is always good, but it was nice to see him having such a good time on screen with his off screen son Scott Caan. It wasn’t one of the show’s best episodes, but it was entertaining.

Parenthood: In an episode that (scarily) felt more like a series finale than a season finale), Crosby and Jasmine got married, Sarah got a marriage proposal, Adam and Crosby came to blows in a hilariously juvenile fight only brothers can have and Drew lost his virginity. I can only hope we’ll get another season of this warm and funny program. The season finale definitely left me wanting more.

What do you think? What were the top entertainment moments this past week?

2 Comments:

Blogger TimmyAnn said...

A. Davy Jones' group was The Monkees, not The Monkeys and B. Thomas Gibson's character on Criminal Minds is Hotch, not Hodge.

March 3, 2012 at 3:35 PM 
Blogger Amanda Lee said...

Good catches.

March 3, 2012 at 3:36 PM 

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