justine bateman

(S01E11) Men in Trees has its very first love triangle, a twist that was necessary to keep the story interesting. This episode picked up right where last week left off. Jack went to meet Marin at the dock to tell her he loves her, but instead his ex-girlfriend, Lynn (Justine Bateman), showed up.

Marin, Jack and Lynn: Yep, Lynn's pregnant. ABC kind-of gave it away in last week's promos (*shakes fist at the sky*). Luckily, it's not Jack's baby. But it still complicates things. Jack obviously feels some sort of responsibility for Lynn's predicament, even though he really doesn't have to. Plus, how hot was that kiss between him and Marin? Steaming hot.

I'm talking about the American version of the show that ran for a short time on NBC several years ago. It starred Rob Schneider, Justine Bateman, and Ron Eldard. Remember it now? It actually ran for a season and a half before it was pulled.

Shout! Factory is releasing a 4 disc DVD set of the show, which will include all 22 episodes (including seven that never aired). No word yet on if there will be any extras or other features. As you can see from the cover of the box, where Rob Schneider is standing there naked but with a newspaper over his genitals (get it? naked people covered up!), the show was, um, hilarious.

It always amazes me when shows like this come out on DVD. Not a hit, but it came out recently enough and there must be some sort of cult buzz to justify a DVD release. It just makes me think of all the shows in the 60s, 70s, and 80s that lasted even longer but were too long ago and/or don't have that buzz that would make a company put the show out on DVD. Though I guess if shows like this keep getting released, the chances of those older shows coming out increases, so more power to 'em.

The set comes out on February 13.

(S01E10) Good news! Men in Trees performed well in its new 10 pm slot last night. It retained 51% of Grey's Anatomy's audience. That is an improvement over the show in the former slot, Six Degrees, which only held onto 38% of Grey's audience.

This whole episode was about Marin's discovery that she belongs in Alaska, and not in New York City. While I think we all knew that Marin wasn't going to stay in NYC, I still found her journey captivating/sweet. There were a lot of signs that NYC wasn't the right place for her: the broken showerhead, the loud parties, all the people. I liked how she kept apologizing to people she bumped into on the street. The dove was obviously a metaphor for Marin's predicament: the city has caused her to lose her way. She came to the conclusion that Alaska was the right place for her without having to be told anything by Jack, a small gesture on the part of the writers that helps strengthen Marin's character. When this series began, I liked Marin but now I like her even more. She has become less girly (although the list comparing Elmo to NYC was super girly) and more of an independent person.

The first season of Family Ties will be available on DVD on February 20 of next year. For those of you who didn't grow up watching this series like I did, it focused on two hippies (Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter-Birney) from the '60s raising a family in the Reagan era. Michael J. Fox starred as Alex, their Republican son, and their two daughters were played by Justine Bateman and Tina Yothers. The set will include all twenty-two episodes of the first season, including a two-parter featuring Tom Hanks as Elyse Keaton's secretive brother.

The series, which managed to be very smart and funny while also dealing with series subjects, aired on NBC for seven seasons. While it struggled during its first season, the show soon became part of NBC's sitcom domination when it was placed right next to The Cosby Show. I have to say, though, I always thought Family Ties was the better series. It would sometimes cross the line between funny and preachy, but never to the degree that The Cosby Show did. Both shows had lessons to teach, but Cosby sometimes felt more like a half-hour lecture on good behavior.

No, the former X-Files star isn't broke and having a yard sale, The TV Set is a new film starring David Duchovny as a TV writer. It follows the ups and downs of a writer in Hollywood, from pilot pitch to filming. The movie also stars Sigourney Weaver, Justine Bateman, and Ioan Gruffudd.

This is the type of movie I'm definitely going to see, because I'm a writer and have an interest in how Hollywood works, but I can also nod in agreement when the article says "Yup, it's the kind of inside Hollywood dark comedy that Middle America loves." Heh.

Here's the deal, if you missed the finale of Arrested Development Friday on FOX, well, you just aren't a true fan. Not only that, but you missed probably two of the finest hours of TV comedy that have ever aired. I'm not sure that there was a plotline that didn't get some kind of mention or wrap-up. Hilarious, funny, crazy, witty, comical, side-splitting, and uproarious are all terms I, and many many others, have used to describe Arrested Development in the past, but there was one word that wasn't mentioned enough: perfection. Arrested Development was treated like garbage by FOX. People can say what they want about FOX giving it more time than most shows to "find its audience," but that's bull and we all know it. Unless it's an immediate hit (with immediate gratification) networks just don't care about anything anymore (ABC's handling of Emily's Reasons Why Not was criminal), and FOX jumped AD all over the place, putting it on hiatus left and right, advertising showings that then disappeared, or just flat-out not advertising it at all. On with the show!