Did you hear the Gossip, Girl?

     I am ashamed that it has taken me four days, my longest delay this year, to watch and write a review for Gossip Girl's season finale, but I blame Lexington, Kentucky's Insight Cable, for not airing the CW in HD.  I am always battling a full TiVo at the end of the season, and as most of what I record is HD, I often neglect those non-HD shows so that I can free up space as rapidly as possible.  No matter.  It meant I got a seven episode Gossip Girl marathon last week, and it was amazing!

     The finale was called "Last Tango, Then Paris", and there was plenty of drama, especially in the game of love.  For one thing, Blair (Leighton Meester) and Chuck (Ed Westwick) cannot possibly be over.  Sure, Blair missed their fated meeting at the top of the Empire State Building, but the two are just so perfect for each other, and their connection runs so deep.  Chuck simply has to forgive her.  What excuse is better than rushing Dorota (Zuzanna Szadkowski) to the hospital so that she could give birth to her baby?  Speaking of Dorota, her plot has been top notch lately, not to mention the actress's ability to enliven the part.  Why is she not a series regular at this point?  And, quickly, back to Chuck, did they really expect anyone to believe that the gunshot, the season-ending cliffhanger, would kill him?  The show would not work without Chuck.

     Jenny (Taylor Momsen) has gone off the deep end.  She wavers back and forth between good girl and bad girl so often, it makes your head spin.  I have to say, I am actually looking forward to her not being around for awhile when next season starts.  I think that perhaps in the long-term she and Nate (Chace Crawford) would make a good couple, but he clearly hasn't seen her in that light yet.  She's lucky he has such a good, forgiving spirit about him, or she'd never get another shot with him.  But I'm thinking that she probably will.

     Just when I was getting used to Dan (Penn Badgley) and Vanessa (Jessica Szohr), they break them up.  Damn the show's writers, who can't let any couple stay happy for more than a handful of episodes.  Yet, I was already rooting Dan and Serena (Blake Lively) again by the end of the finale.  Too bad that reunion, while it will probably still come, will most certainly be delayed with the arrival once more of the wonderfully wicked Georgina Sparks (Michelle Trachtenberg).  I'm still digesting the implications of that twist, if it's true.  With Georgina, you never know.

     Rumor has it that the show is trying to sign Trachtenberg full-time, now that her delightful show Mercy is canceled.  A silver lining in every dark cloud.  That would kick the show up another notch.  Not that it needs it.   XOXO.

Old Christine headed for new adventures?

    Last night began the first of this year's season premieres.  First up for review is the CBS sitcom, The New Adventures of Old Christine.  The episode was titled "Get Smarter", with Christine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Seinfeld) feeling dumb next to her fiance, Max (Eric McCormack, Will & Grace).  She feels that way because it turns out that Max's ex-wife is a super genius.  Of course, as Max points out, she has no room to be jealous that he still hangs out with his ex-wife, as her ex-husband, Richard (Clark Gregg, Iron Man and the other upcoming Marvel movies), is one of her best friends.

     Perhaps, because it was the series season finale, the other main characters didn't have their own subplots.  New Christine (Emily Rutherfurd) and Ritchie (Trevor Gagnon) didn't even make an appearance, although the two have seemed less visible this past season.

     This sitcom has the ensemble down pat, and the characters fully fleshed out by this time.  It is consistently funny, without being too obnoxious.  Should the show get a sixth season (it has yet to be picked up, but CBS will announce the fall schedule next Wednesday), hopefully Christine will finally grow, get married, and head back to college, as she announced she would in the finale.  More likely, though, things with Max will full apart, and she will drop out of college even more quickly.  The status quo is what works for the series and I wouldn't expect any serious, permanent changes until the series comes to an end, should they have time to write a proper ending.

     Which begs the question, why don't all long-running shows get to do a proper send off?  After give years, Christine has plenty of fans.  But it could easily be among the number of series that are pulled without closure.  At this point in time, it would be rotten for a network to do such a thing.  At least give them a handful of episodes next fall to end things right.

     The New Adventures of Old Christine is far from the best sitcom on television, or even on it's channel, but it has a certain charm and enough humor to earn a season pass on my TiVo.  Please give it a second chance.

Have Mercy on Mercy

     I have found NBC's Mercy to be one of the most interesting new shows this year.  Some may dismiss is at yet another medical show, but the characters seem more genuine than most, and the plots have been fun to follow.  Plus, it's a much more serial show than the standard case-of-the-week, so I like it.  And the Jersey charm is oozing from every pore.  Unfortunately, though the season finale, "That Crazy Bitch Was Right", has already aired, the fate of a second season is still up in the air.  Just look at that episode title.  Doesn't that make you want to tune in?

     Last night, Veronica (Taylor Schilling) was trapped in a collapsing building with two boys, one of whom she had to quickly amputate his arm.  But that was just a distraction, evidenced by the fact that that crisis was over halfway through the episode.  What was really important was the two men who have been fighting over her, and which one she would run to when she got out.  And the consequences of that decision.

     Poor Veronica has been through a lot this season.  After getting home from Iraq, she divorced Mike (Diego Klattenhoff), moved in with her parents, briefly dated war buddy Chris (James Tupper), turned to alcohol as much as her parents do, and was traumatized during an armed robbery in a doughnut shop when the clerk died.  Can you blame her if she's a little nuts?  But Veronica is getting things back together, and has even moved into her own apartment.  So when she ran to Mike, I was very happy for her.  Mike gets her, knows her, loves her, takes care of not just her, but her family as well.  Veronica and Chris always felt a little awkward.  Perhaps what they had in Iraq was real, but it clearly didn't translate so well back in the states.  In fact, should there be a second season, as I hope there is, ditch Chris and make room in the full-time cast for either of Veronica's parents, Dr. Talbot (K.K. Moggie), or Dr. Briggs (James Van Der Beek).  Each was much more interesting.

     Chloe (Michelle Trachtenberg) also got some great plot development, as she decided to go back to school and become a doctor.  Hopefully she will still be featured in the series, staying at the hospital, working between classes, and eventually joining the staff of doctors.  It suits her.  Sonia (Jamie Lee Kirchner) reconciled with her guy.  There are numerous other colorful, rich characters in this show, and I wish I had time to talk about each of them in this article, but I don't.  Just tune in if it airs again.

     My only complaint about the finale was the forced suspense in the final moments.  A bomb went off as Chris landed at the airport, back in the Middle East, and a car appeared to be running down Mike.  Neither one of those scenarios was necessary, and will only serve to anger the audience if the show doesn't return.  Please, NBC, bring it back, and perhaps have Chris die in the explosion, and Mike be perfectly fine.

Geek Out With Jimmy #17 - The Rush - 7pm ET Tonight!

     Geek Out With Jimmy #17 “The Rush” is now available through HotZoneRadio.  It will play today at 7pm and tomorrow at the same time.  It is a podcast hosted by Jerome Wetzel, a staff writer for HotZoneOnline.com that covers television.
     This week’s episode deals with a lot of casting news.  There are actors joining and or leaving Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Burn Notice, Parks & Recreation, White Collar, and more.  Find out which shows were newly renewed, and which ones are ending soon.  Lindsey Vonn will be popping up on a show, and Keri Russell is joining a pilot.
     I also review many television shows, including Scrubs, Mercy, Grey’s Anatomy, Burn Notice, Psych, White Collar, Parenthood, Gossip Girl, the Oscars, Ugly Betty, Lost, and Chuck, which had the best moment of the series so far.  The three USA shows just completed their seasons, so find out how they ended!
     I also interview potential co-hosts.  Check out Geek Out With Jimmy on HotZoneRadio!

Gossip Girl returns with more scandal

It’s been since a long wait since we last saw life on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, but last night Gossip Girl returned with the first of ten new episodes.  When we last left them, Dan (Penn Badgley) was falling for his best friend, Vanessa (Jessica Szohr) after having a threesome with her and his girlfriend.  Of course, the relationship quickly fell apart, and he realized he had feelings for Vanessa, while she may have gotten over the torch she had been carrying for him.  Vanessa was nowhere in sight in the first episode, and not returning Dan’s phone calls.  Hmm.  Poor Humphrey.
The other new, but long anticipated, relationship is between Serena (Blake Lively) and Nate (Chace Crawford).  Though they had been friends forever, they decided to take things up a level.  Last night’s episode featured a few missteps, but nothing so bad as to threaten the new fling.  Could this be GG’s big romance?  The other two established ones are certainly falling apart.  Though Blair (Leighton Meester) stood by her man, Chuck (Ed Westwick), the fact that he lied about the woman at the grave in the first place could spell doom.  Or perhaps not.  Blair certainly rose to his defense.  And Rufus (Matthew Settle), who had finally gotten with the woman he’d loved for decades, Lily (Kelly Rutherford), appears to be throwing it away because of a lie she told, and last night found Rufus seeking comfort in the arms of another woman.  It was so hard to get them together, and it felt so right, their dissolution would be highly disappointing.
Much is in store in the next nine weeks.  ***SPOILER ALERT!!!***  Serena’s father will finally show up, played by none other than Billy Baldwin.  Eh, he’s not Alec, but at least he’s not Stephen.  The season finale will also feature the return of my favorite character, Georgina (Michelle Trachtenberg)!  Though the actress is currently starring in Mercy on NBC, she was given time to pop in on some more juvenile drama, and really, we would miss her deeply if she stayed away too long.
In other news, Leighton Meester will be starring in a romantic comedy with Hugh Laurie (House), which is awesome, because she played his little teenage stalked on his show for a few episodes years ago.  Should be great fun.

Merci Mercy

    When NBC announced a new medical drama about nurses called Mercy, eyes, including mine, rolled.  Don't we have enough medical shows?  Not only that, but no less than two others were also premiering this fall.  However, Mercy has somehow set itself above and pack, and proved that there can still be fresh, fun medical shows.  I credit the amazing cast, all of which are wonderful, but I'm going to focus on the Top 5, hard as it was to choose 5.  Mercy airs Wednesdays at 8pm, and just returned to the air this past week.

     Virtual unknown Taylor Schilling stars as Veronica.  She is delightful, pretty, and sympathetically human.  The blond is really trying to make things work with her childhood sweetheart, Mike (Diego Klattenhoff), despite his cheating ways while she was in Iraq.  However, she also cheated on him during her second tour.  She is doing a highly entertaining job balancing all the personal crap with her job.

     Fresh off of the canceled Men in Trees, James Tupper plays the aforementioned lover, Dr. Chris Sands, who followed her home and is now a doctor at the hospital where Veronica works.  (Side note, Diego Klattenhoff was also recurring on Men in Trees near the end).  He gets to talk a lot more on this show, and it doesn't hurt.  Unlike many dramas, it does not seem inevitable that he will end up with Veronica.

     I'd never heard of James LeGros (Ally McBeal), but his performance as Dr. Harris has been the most interesting so far.  He started as a total jerk, and then, after his wife's murder, he became a grief-stricken total jerk obsessed with not letting anyone else die.  He manages to convey a character who doesn't fall into stereotypical growth, but gets to explore strong emotion in a very satisfying way.

     Child star Michelle Trachtenberg (Gossip Girl, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is also a nurse at the hospital, young, green, and gullible.  Her character, Chloe, is not just the comic relief, however, as her attempts at love have been well performed as well.  She adds an element to the show that is completely necessary to the series's success.

     Kate Mulgrew, perhaps best remembered as Captain Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager, is quickly establishing a new character to remember, Veronica's mother.  She plays the alcoholic matriarch of a "white trash" Irish Jersey family.  She has taken to the role with relish, and always steals the scene when she appears on screen.  Hopefully an upgrade to series regular will soon be forthcoming.