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Deadwood: A Two-Headed Beast

by Jonathan Toomey, posted Jul 9th 2006 9:09PM

Deadwood - A Two-Headed Beast

(S03E05) This sums just about everything up:

Johnny: "What are we waiting for?"

Swearengen: "To see what kind of hell breaks loose."

And break loose it did. From drug addiction to street fights, plenty of things came out into the open this week on Deadwood.

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Brotherhood -- An early look

by Annie Wu, posted Jul 7th 2006 10:07AM
Brotherhood
The premise: In Showtime's new drama, Tommy Caffee (Jason Clarke) is a dedicated politician residing in Providence, Rhode Island. His brother, Michael Caffee (Jason Isaacs), is a gangster who returns to the neighborhood to regain control of the area's shady activities. Tension rises in the neighborhood as the two worlds (and brothers) collide.

My thoughts: First off, allow me to applaud both Clarke and Isaacs for doing such fantastic jobs with their accents. I always knew Isaacs was English (heh, he plays Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films), but I was surprised to learn that Clarke isn't American, but Australian. Excellent work. They're close to giving Hugh Laurie (House) a run for his money.

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Entourage: Guys and Doll

by Jonathan Toomey, posted Jul 2nd 2006 11:33PM

Entourage - Guys and Doll

(S03E04) Drop everything. Ari Gold has officially come up with the most perfect, most vulgar, most offensive, yet hilarious, insult EVER. It's flawless. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you: cunt muscle. It just rolls off your lips. For instance, "Hey (your friend's name), stop being such a cunt muscle." Go on, give it try. I've used it dozens of times and the episode only aired thirty minutes ago. It's that good. Now give yourself a second to take a deep breath (because all our lives are clearly better now that this phrase is in our collective verbal lexicons) and then continue reading.

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Deadwood: Full Faith and Credit

by Jonathan Toomey, posted Jul 2nd 2006 10:38PM

Deadwood - Full Faith and Credit

(S03E04) Even the slow episodes are good. I'm sure the die-hards (and I'd like to think that I'm one of them) will disagree with me when I say that this episode was slow but let's be honest. Not much happened and what did was a lot of filler. The biggest, and most important, event was Alma's decision to finally open the Deadwood Bank. Am I the only one who thought this was sudden though? I know she proposed the idea last season to Sol and I think we were to assume it was a go by all accounts, but this came out of nowhere. There's been no mention of it this season (that I can remember) and now here it is. Of course, this would explain why Alma was only willing to sell Hearst a 49% stake in her gold claim in last week's episode. She knew she would still need a majority share so that it could be used to back any deposits at her bank. I love when little connections like that are made though, because last week it made no sense to me in regards to the offer Alma made Hearst. Now it makes perfect sense. A "powerhouse" I believe Mr. Ellsworth called her.

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Deadwood: True Colors

by Jonathan Toomey, posted Jun 26th 2006 11:41AM

Deadwood - True Colors

(S03E03) New arrivals in the camp. Wu has returned from his recruiting mission in San Francisco. The rest of his workers he's hired will be arriving in "ten day." Nice to see that his vocabulary is growing. His return set the tone for the episode though. Wu is a changed man. Believe it or not, he's become quite the shrewd businessman despite his lack of English skills and his appearance is slightly updated too. Let's be honest, he looks ridiculous. But Wu's transformation seems to mirror that of the camp's. Things are changing and I don't think the end result is going to be what anyone expects.

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Entourage: Dominated

by Jonathan Toomey, posted Jun 26th 2006 9:33AM

Entourage - Dominated

(S03E03) I must be slow. Only just now did the wordplay of this episode's title make any sense to me. "Dom"inated. Idiot, right here. Dom would be the goofy looking guy in the middle of the picture above. He's an old buddy from back home in Queens, fresh out of prison, and looking to get reacquainted with his old friends. As one would expect, his return went downhill fast. I honestly wasn't too impressed with this episode. First time that's ever happened with Entourage.

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Huff: Which Lip is the Cervical Lip? (series finale)

by Jonathan Toomey, posted Jun 25th 2006 11:09PM

HUFF - Season 2 Cast(S02E13) Last week I said I expected this finale to be "one helluva storm." Well I was almost right. It was a storm. Just a calm one that played out very methodically with a few things that you almost half expected anyway.

We pick up right where it left off: Russell tweaking out on his couch and Huff sitting on the floor next to Pepper's lifeless body. The cops arrive and it comes as no surprise that Russell is cuffed and brought in. The guy was high as a kite and suspicions are aroused when traces of coke are seen in Pepper's nostrils.

The following scene was incredibly well laid out as it jumped back and forth to Russell being booked and sent to his cell while Craig checked into a hotel. It's a wonder these two have maintained a relationship over the years because they are complete opposites.

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Showtime cancels Huff

by Jonathan Toomey, posted Jun 23rd 2006 11:29AM

HUFFSad news here. This morning Showtime announced that Huff will not be back for a third season. The decision was made after numbers for the second season didn't exceed the low ratings of the first. I suppose it's nice that we at least got two seasons because if you recall, Showtime president Robert Greenblatt gave the second season a greenlight before the pilot even aired. If that hadn't happened, I might have been posting about this a year ago.

Hank Azaria and the rest of the cast were notified of the news earlier this week. They should feel proud of what they did accomplish though. A best supporting actress Emmy for Blythe Danner and nominations for Azaria and Oliver Platt are nothing to be ashamed about. And who knows if they'll get any more nods this year.

I'm especially disappointed by this as are some of my fellow TV Squadders. Heck, we even interviewed show creator Bob Lowry twice! Everyone should tune in to the season series finale this Sunday though. I've already had the opportunity to screen it and you won't be disappointed.

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Entourage: One Day in the Valley

by Jonathan Toomey, posted Jun 19th 2006 1:42PM

Entourage; HBO; Adrian Grenier; Jerry Ferrara

(S03E02) Only Ari Gold could make sex sound so glorious and painful at the same time.

Ari [to his wife, promising sex later that evening]: "We're gonna dent that headboard. No bullshit. I guarantee you! You will not walk right tomorrow."

I'm fairly certain that line is one of the top ten funniest things I've heard in the last year. Of course, that could change fast because we are only on the second episode of the season.

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Deadwood: I Am Not the Fine Man You Take Me For

by Jonathan Toomey, posted Jun 19th 2006 9:32AM

Deadwood; W. Earl Brown; Titus Welliver; Ian McShane

(S03E02) Episodes like this are the reason why people were so ticked at HBO for being stingy with the season four funds. Actually, I really shouldn't put it that way. Any episode of Deadwood is reason enough for the outcry. This one especially, though.

Picking up right where we left off last week, I'm guessing it's probably the following morning. The mental chess match between Hearst and Swearengen is in full throttle as the two continue to jockey for the upper hand in the camp.

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Huff: Black Shadows

by Jonathan Toomey, posted Jun 18th 2006 11:29PM

Showtime; Huff; Oliver Platt as Russell Tupper(S02E12) And thus begins the downfall of Russell Tupper. We've watched him destroy his own body with drugs since day one and now finally, it seems that Russell might be in a position where he absolutely, positively has to clean himself up. As if Kelly being pregnant with his child wasn't enough. The man is a wreck and it's about time something happened. The question that remains is will he rise to the challenge?

More on this after I lay out everything else first because next week's finale is going to be one helluva storm.

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McKellen and Gervais to share onscreen kiss

by Annie Wu, posted Jun 14th 2006 5:34PM
Ricky GervaisBBC/HBO's Extras has some fantastic A-listers lined up to guest star in the upcoming season. Among the big names are Chris Martin (Coldplay), Daniel Radcliffe, Orlando Bloom, David Bowie, and Stephen Fry.

Sir Ian McKellen from X-Men and Lord of the Rings is also set to make an appearance, and, the word is, he's going to share an onscreen kiss with the star, Ricky Gervais. McKellen's a funny guy... I remember when he snuck a kiss from Jimmy Fallon when he hosted Saturday Night Live a few years ago. It threw me, a Fallon fangirl at the time, into a fit, but it was hysterical.

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Entourage - a documentary?

by Bob Sassone, posted Jun 12th 2006 10:13AM
Entourage castThat's the angle of this Los Angeles Times piece, which says that many in the industry look at the weekly adventures of Vince and his gang not as comedy and drama but as a documentary, getting at the many truths of living and working in Hollywood, whether you're an actor, writer, producer, agent, wannabe or has been. The article also notes how many of the "inside Hollywood" shows, like The Comeback and Unscripted, are no longer around. Insider-ish shows about Hollywood aren't easy to do, and the general public doesn't always want to watch. But Entourage is a hit.

Also some interesting to see how Doug Ellin came up with the show and how he got it made.

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Huff: Tapping the Squid

by Jonathan Toomey, posted Jun 12th 2006 9:17AM

Huff; Showtime; Tapping the Squid; S02E11; Hank Azaria; Oliver Platt

(S02E11) I'm speechless. Every week I just watch this show and I'm so impressed. Shows like this are the reason I hardly read books. This is better than a book. Way better.

Taking a cue from Six Feet Under, the episode began with Huff dreaming that he was back home with Beth and Byrd. Until Byrd pulled a gun on his father. Dream sequence over. It's starting to seem that Huff is regretting his decision to leave Beth and these dreams are how he's dealing with it. It happened to him again during a session with a patient later that day. He just keeps spacing out. I'd like the think that the rest of this season will be about Huff finding himself and making amends with Beth. But after this episode, I seriously doubt we'll see that happen in the final two episodes.

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Deadwood: Tell Your God to Ready For Blood (season premiere)

by Jonathan Toomey, posted Jun 12th 2006 8:09AM

HBO; Deadwood; Ian McShane as Al Swearengen

(S03E01) One of the things you need to realize about this show is that you're bound to get confused. Especially after you've gone a year without seeing an episode and hearing that trademark "F this and F that and F you" dialogue. It takes a good ten minutes for your ears and mind to adjust. Part of is also the multitude of characters. But you have to respect a show that's so ambitious in that respect and Deadwood does it well.

I will say though, it was a great feeling to see Swearengen walk out onto his deck and slug down some coffee from that dirty tin mug. I missed this guy... which is odd, because I don't think I'd want him as a friend.

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