I called the finale of ”Lost “The End”: The Long Con Revealed, ” but nothing quite says what all the problems were with the Lost finale like this video called “Lost” The Ultimate List of Unanswered Questions.” Enjoy!
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Monday, May 31, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Lost “The End”: The Long Con Revealed
Photo from ABCI rarely stay up until 11:30 PM to watch television, but made the exception for the series finale of Lost. The last episode, appropriately titled “The End” could have also been titled “The Long Con Revealed” as the last 10 minutes or so of the show finally gives away the whole secret of the Island. And the secret really was that there really was NO secret of the Island per se, it was that everyone who seemed to be trying to reconnect with others in their “sideways” life were really all dead and they were preparing themselves to “move on.” The whole “they’re all dead” theory was floated by many people very early in the first season, and if my memory serves me correctly, that theory was dismissed and denied by many people closely associated with the show. I suspect that the writers may have been making the whole thing up all along, and once they knew that it was time to end it, they decided to go back to the tried and true “they’re all dead” theory. I have to admit that I felt dissatisfied with the ending of the series as it seemed to descend into a predictable cheesiness. I also felt conned as the whole time viewers were led to believe that the Island had a deep mystery, and when it all came down to it, it may have been just another player in the "Jack Shephard goes to heaven" story.
The big question in my mind - and maybe the only mystery left for discussion long after the show ends is - exactly when did they die? Did they die when the plane first crashed on the Island? Did they survive the crash and die while on the Island, such as Jack, Juliette, Locke, Charlie, etc., and others while trying to get off the Island, such as Kate, Claire, Sawyer, Miles, Richard, and Lapius when they took off on Ajira 316? Did those people escape the Island on that plane and die sometime later? What about people like Desmond and Ben, who weren’t on the Oceanic flight to begin with (Desmond being busy pushing the button all those years, and Ben being an “Other”), or someone like Penny, who never set foot on the Island yet were at the church and crossed over (well, except for Ben who was outside the church, apparently not ready to go yet). Did Ben and Desmond still die on the Island but Penny died some other time and just waited to cross over until Desmond was dead and ready to go? It’s enough to make your head swim.
It seems that we are left with wondering what part of who's lives were real. For example, did they manage to get off the Island when Juliette died blowing up that bomb and they all seemed to go to other lives off the island, and did they die when they made their return trip when Jack convinced them they had to go back? Or was that just more of their “purgatory/limbo?” Here’s the dialog between Jack and his father, Christian, to help sort things out:
C: Hey kiddo.
J: Dad?
C: Hello Jack.
J: I don’t understand, you died.
C: Yes I did.
J: Then how are you here right now.
C: (sigh) How are YOU here?
J: I died too.
C: It’s ok. It’s ok. It’s ok, son. (They embrace as Jack sobs)
J: I love you dad
C: I love you too, son.
J: Are you real?
C: (Laughs) I sure hope so. Yeah, I’m real. You’re real. Everything that’s ever happened to you is real, all those people in the church – they’re all real too.
J: They’re all…they’re all dead?
C: Everyone dies sometime, kiddo. Some of them before you, some of them long after you.
J: But why are they all here now?
C: Well there is no now, here.
J: Where are we dad?
C: Well this is the place that you, that you all made together so that you can find one another. The most important part of your life was the time that you spent with these people. That’s why all of you are here. Nobody does it alone, Jack. You needed all of them, and they needed you.
J: For what?
C: To remember. And to let go.
J: Kate. She said we were leaving.
C: Not leaving, no. Moving on.
J: Where are we going?
C: Let’s go find out.
Jack’s father said everything that happened to Jack was real. Does that mean that Jack both crashed on the Island and also had a life where he, and the rest of them, did not crash on the Island? For example, did Jack really “cure” Locke but did Ben also kill Locke? It seems that there are many conflicting actions, depending on whose perspective one takes.
Regardless of what you believe, even though I wasn’t particularly satisfied with the ending, it was one that will have people talking about for quite some time. The ending credits will even spark discussion, as it isn’t clear which flight that plane wreckage was from (or at least I could not tell). Who knows, maybe it is another group’s arrival to make their long journey to crossing over.
Truly tragic is that is appears that dogs don’t have an afterlife, as Vincent appears next to Jack as he dies on the Island, but we don’t see him crossing over at the church. Maybe Vincent was just not ready.
No mystery with this finale is ABC’s desire to cash in, with seemingly 4 minutes of commercials for about every 6-7 minutes of storytelling. The Target commercials were the only ones that seem to put some thought into tying their ads toward elements from the series. And I don’t know if this was just a local problem or more widespread, but our ABC affiliate’s HD signal kept breaking up and pixelating, so we had to watch most of the show on out local non-HD channel.
And now that the secret has been revealed, maybe when people re-watch the series, the nitpicking and raising inconsistencies will reach a new level. For me, this ending has left me with no desire to re-watch another episode ever again. I suppose I wanted the Island to have some magical secret or mysterious powers. Maybe it still does - but for those that were "lost" and are now "found" and are crossing over to the other side, the Island has outlived its usefulness - and for me as well.
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Friday, May 21, 2010
Fringe “Over There Part 2” Recap & Review
All Photos from FoxThe season finale of Fringe (Fox), “Over There Part 2” brought Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), along with Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble) over to the alternate universe in order to retrieve Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson), who went over there willingly with “Secretary” Walter Bishop (also John Noble). It seems that even William Bell (Leonard Nimoy, in what is supposed to be his last acting role) has come to call the alternate universe version of Walter the “Walternate”. By the way, I was amused by what seemed like a tribute to Nimoy as Star Trek's Mr. Spock as he raises his hand - reminiscent of "live long and prosper" - to release his energy. The episode did an excellent job in showing the differences between our world and the alternate – they fly in quiet dirigibles, the Transamerica Pyramid is in New York City, and Liberty Island has a gleaming Statue of Liberty with Liberty Island being the headquarters for the Department of Defense, and serves as Walternate’s headquarters. We also hear of some of the areas that are “quarantined," one of them being by Madison Square Garden, where a wormhole exists and 10,000 people are trapped inside, all who have been declared dead.
We know we are in a different place as the episode opens with a familiar looking theme – but it’s red rather than blue and some of the words are different (see comparison video below). The alternate universe, despite some of the normalcy,seems like a very cold and sterile place. Walternate seems to be the man in charge, and John Noble does his usual excellent job in portraying the very calm and reserved, yet cold and calculating Secretary. At the end of the episode, with Olivia imprisoned, he is able to show the differences between Walter and Walternate simply by changing the look on his face. It was enough to make me shudder. Although the twist at the end could be predicted a mile away, it was one of those endings that was highly satisfying, and only makes one wonder more about the interesting possibilities this show has for next season. (In case you missed part 1, see
Fringe “Over There Part 1” Recap & Review)
In case you missed Part 2, here’s what happened:
Peter flies over New York to meet Walternate in his office on Liberty Island. It’s at Walternate’s office where Peter learns that Walter’s taking of Peter years ago created several “soft spots” in their universe because of what “that man” – Walter – did, and they are marked as red spots scattered all over the map of the United States, one almost covering Boston. He wants Peter to help him with a power source to help solve the problem and Walternate believes Peter’s knowledge of science from the other side can help. It’s here where Peter sees Olivia’s strawberry blonde alternate, and she is somewhat cold to him. Later, Walternate warns her that their doubles cannot be trusted and will lie – and he wants a favor of her.
Fringe Finale – extended scene (deleted from episode)
Walternate knows that Walter is at a local hospital being treated and sends the alternate Fringe team out to get him, but William Bell helps Olivia get to Walter first and to escape. Walter is really thrilled about the drugs they used – and also seems interested in the food, specifically, a bucket of KFC fried chicken which tastes the same to him in both universes. They make their plans to get Peter back, and they need to find a way to keep the door to the universes open so they can cross over – a doorstop of sorts. But Alt-Olivia is already working to track them down as has seen their escape on security video and she has also seen her blonde equivalent, and she now must work to top Walter from getting Peter back.
Alt-Olivia takes Peter to a hotel room and tells him he will be famous now that he returned as people know his story.
While Olivia works to track down Peter, William Bell and Walter scout out his alternate Harvard lab for equipment to help them cross back over. We find that William Bell’s alternate had died in a car crash years ago and he and Walternate never worked together. Walter begins to argue with Bell, saying that Bell took the alternate world’s technology for profit, and Bell reminds Walter that he only came over to try to stop the events Walter started by coming and stealing Peter. He adds he had no choice but to work for Walternate, coming up with things like the shape shifters. Walter tells him of the 17 years he spent in a mental institution and is angry with Bell for cutting out pieces of his brain and stealing his memories. But they start working together when they find the piece of equipment that they need.
Meanwhile, back at Alt-Olivia’s apartment, she is ambushed by Olivia. They compare notes and find they are not completely alike, for example, Alt-Olivia’s mother is still alive, but her sister died in childbirth. When it seems Alt-Olivia wins at the battle of wits, Olivia manages to disable her and then knocks her out. Olivia dyes her hair and then makes her way to where Peter is being held – along with Agent Charlie Francis (Kirk Acevedo), whom Olivia told she was instructed to move Peter. Peter, working on the power source at the hotel, realizes the component needed to make it work is something unique – HIM.
When she gets to the hotel, she gives Peter the drawing she got from the Observer, and hearing mention of the Observer, he realizes something is up. When Olivia knocks Charlie out, Peter knows it is really Olivia, and she tells him Walternate lied about fixing the other universe; it is about destroying theirs. He asks her how long she knew about where he was really from and she tells him a few weeks, adding he doesn't belong here.. He agrees, but he thinks he doesn't belong there either. She says thought of 100 reasons why he should come back but the best reason is his belonging with her. She steps closer and they kiss.
At Alt-Fringe division, they realize Walter and the rest are going to the opera house. At the opera house, Peter and Walter re-unite, but as sirens approach, Bell tells Peter and Walter to go in and set up the device while he holds them off. Bell uses weapons he designed for maximum impact, and gives Olivia prototype phosphorous grenades while Walter powers up his machine inside. But when Olivia notices Alt-Olivia, she warns Bell, but there is a huge explosion. The next thing we see is Olivia - and I find myself asking is it really Olivia? - standing over William Bell, who was knocked out from the grenade. Inside, Walter and Peter have the machine up and running and Bell makes the decision that since his atoms are so scrambled anyway he will help keep the device open. As the door is opening, he admits to Walter that he took out part of his brain because Walter asked him to, because of what he was becoming. As the Alt-Fringies come through the door, he raises his hands and the energy flows out of him and with a flash, they are back “home” in the opera house, with Bell and the machine gone.
Later, "Olivia" arrives home and looks around strangely. At the lab, Astrid (Jasika Nicole) welcomes Peter back with lots of pie. Before Peter leave the lab for the night, Walter asks him if he is staying, and Peter tells him, "I'm trying to see this your way, Walter. I can't. But, you did cross universes twice to save my life, so that's gotta count for something, right?"
But we then see “Olivia” walk into the typewriter store and she asks for the Selectric model 251 typewriter, used to communicate with the other side – and we know she is not who she seems.
In the back room, as she gets ready to type her message, we see a tattoo on her neck. Her message: "Infiltration achieved. "Awaiting orders."
Back in the alternate universe, we see Walternate enter a darkened room and walk up to a window and turns on a light. It’s our Olivia inside a padded cell, and she screams for him to let he go, but he looks on her with a creepy smile of sorts and then turns the light out, leaving her in darkness, as we too go to black.
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Thursday, May 20, 2010
Fringe Opening Sequence – Compare Blue and Red!
The season finale for Fringe (Fox) airs tonight (May 20, 2010) at 9PM ET on Fox. To get you ready for the action in the alternate universe, here is a video comparing the traditional “blue” opening sequence, and the alternate (or “Walternate”) red opening sequence. Enjoy! (The video is best viewed full size.)
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Monday, May 17, 2010
NBC Fall Preview Underwhelms (Video Clips)
Here are video previews of several new shows that NBC just announced as part of their 2010-2011 fall season lineup. I have a clip, in some cases more than one, from most of the new shows below. “Friends with Benefits” is missing as, despite the fact that NBC released the clip as part of their approved press kit, Fox is blocking the video from YouTube. There are no clips from the new Law & Order: LA (LOLA) as the show hasn’t even been cast as yet.
It’s hard sometimes to judge a new show based on a short clip, but based on what I’ve seen so far, I’d say NBC is off to an underwhelming season. Keep in mind that I am slightly older than the prized 18-49 demographic, so maybe my expectations for new, edgy, and intelligent television are set too high. Then again, maybe the 18-49 year olds’ expectations are set too low.
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May 16, 2010
NBC UNVEILS 2010-11 PRIMETIME SCHEDULE ACCENTED BY FIVE NEW COMEDIES, SEVEN NEW DRAMAS AND NEW ALTERNATIVE PROGRAM
The New Fall Schedule Features All-Drama Lineups on Mondays and Wednesdays and All Comedies on Thursdays, Plus Unscripted Programming into Compatible Dramas on Tuesdays and Fridays
New Comedies Include "Friends With Benefits," "Outsourced," "Perfect Couples, "Love Bites" and "The Paul Reiser Show"
New Dramas Are "Undercovers," "The Event," "Chase," "Law & Order: Los Angeles," "Outlaw," "The Cape" and "Harry's Law"; And New Alternative Show "School Pride"
NEW YORK CITY - May 16, 2010 - NBC announced today its 2010-11 primetime schedule that is highlighted by five new comedies, seven new drama series and one new alternative program, including shows from such innovative hit-makers as J.J. Abrams, Jerry Bruckheimer and David E. Kelley, among others.
The high-quality series include new comedies such as "Outsourced," Love Bites," "Perfect Couples," "Friends With Benefits" and "The Paul Reiser Show." The new dramas are "The Cape," "Harry's Law," "Outlaw," "Undercovers," "The Event," "Chase" and "Law & Order: Los Angeles."
The schedule features all-drama lineups on Mondays and Wednesdays and five comedies on Thursdays. Tuesdays will continue to combine the similar appeal of "The Biggest Loser" with "Parenthood," and Fridays will team "Who Do You Think You Are?" and the new series "School Pride" with "Dateline NBC" and the new legal drama "Outlaw."
NBC will also broadcast a 35th anniversary "Saturday Night Live" special that will celebrate the iconic late-night series' long and eventful run on NBC since 1975.
The announcements were made by Jeff Gaspin, Chairman, NBC Universal Television Entertainment, and Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios.
"This new schedule brings NBC back to basics with its commitment to quality scripted programming," said Gaspin. "Our new shows are distinctive and feature a combination of the biggest talent, the brightest new stars and the strongest auspices in television. With this new schedule, we're poised to take the next step toward our long-term goals with a lineup that has stabilized and has been building solid momentum through the second half of the season."
"Our team has been working tirelessly to achieve our ambitious goals and we are so pleased to see that these new series demonstrate tremendous upside for NBC," said Bromstad. "We feel that this development season introduces shows that will become part of the great programming legacy of our network."
On Mondays (all times ET), NBC leads off with "Chuck" from 8-9 p.m., followed by two new and intense hour-long dramas - "The Event" (9-10 p.m.) and "Chase" (10-11 p.m.). Then on Tuesdays, NBC returns with its powerful stories from the hit alternative series "The Biggest Loser" (8-10 p.m.) and finishes the night with the acclaimed family drama "Parenthood" (10-11 p.m.).
NBC's Wednesday night features three hours of drama programming beginning with the new series "Undercovers" from J.J. Abrams (8-9 p.m.), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (9-10 p.m.) and the new "Law & Order: Los Angeles" at 10-11 p.m. concludes the night.
Primetime Thursdays feature wall-to-wall comedy as this season's freshman sensation "Community" continues at 8-8:30 p.m. followed by the Emmy Award-winning "30 Rock" (8:30-9 p.m.). The Emmy-winning "The Office" continues 9-9:30 p.m. and will be followed by the new comedy "Outsourced" (9:30-10 p.m.). Now NBC's comedy fans get an extra round of laughs when the new, hour-long comedy "Love Bites" debuts at 10-11 p.m. "Parks and Recreation" will return to Thursdays later in the season to give the night more original programming.
Fridays come alive with a fresh mix of reality, news and a new scripted drama as the popular "Who Do You Think You Are?" returns at 8-9 p.m. where it shares the time period with "School Pride" -- a new, proactive and inspiring series about rebuilding a community's schools. "Dateline NBC" continues at 9-10 p.m. with its compelling personal stories. The workweek ends with "Outlaw," a new courtroom drama featuring Emmy winner Jimmy Smits as a former U.S. Supreme Court justice.
The wildly successful "NBC Sunday Night Football" reigns supreme again on Sundays (8:15-11:30 p.m.) preceded by "Football Night in America" (7-8:15 p.m.).
Sundays beginning March 2011, the popular competition series "Minute to Win It" returns (8-9 p.m.) followed by "The Celebrity Apprentice" (9-11 p.m.)
The new series "The Cape," "Friends With Benefits," "Perfect Couples," "Harry's Law" and "The Paul Reiser Show" will premiere later in the season along with a new version of "The Apprentice" "The Marriage Ref" and the new series "America's Next Great Restaurant" -- starring acclaimed celebrity chef/restaurateur Bobby Flay....
....See the schedule, watch exclusive video, and explore NBC's upcoming shows on NBC.com: http://www.nbc.com/upcoming-shows/
NBC FALL 2010 SCHEDULE
*New programs in UPPER CASE; all times ET
MONDAY
8-9 p.m. - "Chuck"
9-10 p.m. -- "THE EVENT"
10-11 p.m. - "CHASE"
TUESDAY
8-10 p.m. - "The Biggest Loser"
10-11 p.m. - "Parenthood"
WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. - "UNDERCOVERS"
9-10 p.m. - "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"
10-11 p.m. - "LAW & ORDER: LOS ANGELES"
THURSDAY
8- 8:30 p.m. - "Community"
8:30-9 p.m. - "30 Rock"
9-9:30 p.m. - "The Office"
9:30-10 p.m. - "OUTSOURCED"
10-11 p.m. - "LOVE BITES"
FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. - "Who Do You Think You Are?"/"SCHOOL PRIDE" 9-10 p.m. - "Dateline NBC"
10-11 p.m. - "OUTLAW"
SATURDAY
Encore programming
SUNDAY
7- 8:15 p.m. -- "Football Night in America"
8:15-11:30 p.m. -- "NBC Sunday Night Football"
SUNDAY (beginning March 2011)
7-8 p.m. - "Dateline NBC"
8-9 p.m. - "Minute to Win It"
9-11 p.m. - "The Celebrity Apprentice"
2010-11 NEW SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
New Dramas
'THE EVENT' -- "The Event" is an emotional, high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker (Jason Ritter, "The Class"), an Everyman who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his fiancée, Leila (Sarah Roemer, "Disturbia"), and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history. Sean's quest will send ripples through the lives of an eclectic band of strangers, including: newly elected U.S. President Martinez (Golden Globe nominee Blair Underwood, "In Treatment"); Sophia (Emmy Award nominee Laura Innes, "ER"), who is the leader of a mysterious group of detainees; and Sean's shadowy father-in-law (Scott Patterson, "Gilmore Girls"). Their futures are on a collision course in a global conspiracy that could ultimately change the fate of mankind. Ian Anthony Dale ("Daybreak") and Emmy winner Željko Ivanek ("Damages") also star in the ensemble drama. "The Event" is a production of Universal Media Studios and Steve Stark Productions. Stark ("Medium," "Facing Kate") serves as executive producer, Nick Wauters ("The 4400," "Eureka") is creator/co-executive producer and Jeffrey Reiner ("Friday Night Lights," "Trauma") is the director/executive producer; Evan Katz ("24") also is an executive producer. http://www.nbc.com/the-event/
'UNDERCOVERS' -- Acclaimed writer/producer/director J.J. Abrams ("Star Trek," "Fringe," "Lost," "Alias") serves as co-writer, executive producer – and also directs – his first direction of a TV series pilot since "Lost" in "Undercovers" with executive producer/writer Josh Reims ("Brothers and Sisters"). "Undercovers" is a sexy, fun, action-packed spy drama that proves once and for all that marriage is still the world's most dangerous partnership. Outwardly, Steven Bloom (Boris Kodjoe, "Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion," "Soul Food," "Resident Evil: Afterlife") and his wife, Samantha (Gugu Mbatha-Raw, "Doctor Who," "Bonekickers"), are a typical married couple who own a small catering company in Los Angeles and are helped by Samantha's easily frazzled younger sister, Lizzy (Jessica Parker Kennedy, "Smallville"). Secretly, the duo were two of the CIA's best spies until they fell in love on the job five years ago and retired. When fellow spy and friend Nash (Carter MacIntyre, "American Heiress") goes missing while on the trail of a Russian arms dealer, the Blooms are reinstated by boss Carlton Shaw (Gerald McRaney, "Deadwood") to locate and rescue Nash. The pair is thrust back into the world of espionage as they follow leads that span the globe -- and Steven and Samantha realize that this supercharged, undercover lifestyle provides the excitement and romance that their marriage has been missing. Also starring is Ben Schwartz (NBC's "Parks and Recreation"). "Undercovers" is from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Bad Robot Productions and Warner Bros. Television. The pilot was written by J.J. Abrams & Josh Reims and directed by Abrams. Abrams, Reims and Bryan Burk ("Fringe," "Lost, "Alias") are the executive producers. http://www.nbc.com/undercovers/
'THE CAPE' -- "The Cape" is a one-hour drama series starring David Lyons ("ER") as Vince Faraday, an honest cop on a corrupt police force, who finds himself framed for a series of murders and presumed dead. He is forced into hiding, leaving behind his wife, Dana (Jennifer Ferrin, "Life on Mars") and son, Trip (Ryan Wynott, "Flash Forward"). Fueled by a desire to reunite with his family and to battle the criminal forces that have overtaken Palm City, Faraday becomes "The Cape" his son's favorite comic book superhero -- and takes the law into his own hands. Rounding out the cast are James Frain ("The Tudors") as billionaire Peter Fleming -- The Cape's nemesis -- who moonlights as the twisted killer: Chess; Keith David ("Death at a Funeral") as Max Malini, the ringleader of a circus gang of bank robbers who mentors Vince Faraday and trains him to be The Cape, Summer Glau ("Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles") as Orwell, an investigative blogger who wages war on crime and corruption in Palm City; and Dorian Missick ("Six Degrees") as Marty Voyt, a former police detective and friend to Faraday. "The Cape" is a Universal Media Studios and BermanBraun production from executive producer/creator Thomas Wheeler ("Empire"), executive producer/director Simon West ("Con Air"), the executive producing team of Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun (NBC's "Mercy), and executive producer Gene Stein ("Accidentally on Purpose"). http://www.nbc.com/the-cape/
'CHASE' -- "Chase" is a fast-paced drama from Emmy Award-winning executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer ("CSI" franchise, "The Amazing Race," "Pirates of the Caribbean" films) and executive producer Jennifer Johnson ("Cold Case") that drops viewers smack into the middle of a game of cat-and-mouse as a team of U.S. marshals hunts down America's most dangerous fugitives. Kelli Giddish ("Past Life") stars as U.S. Marshal Annie Frost, a cowboy boot-wearing deputy whose sharp mind and unique Texas upbringing help her track down the violent criminals on the run. Cole Hauser ("K-Ville"), Amaury Nolasco ("Prison Break"), Rose Rollins ("The L Word") and Jesse Metcalfe ("Desperate Housewives") also star as members of Frost's elite team. "Chase" is produced by Bonanza Productions Inc., in association with Jerry Bruckheimer Television and Warner Bros. Television. Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman ("CSI" franchise, "The Amazing Race," "Cold Case") and Johnson serve as executive producers, while KristieAnne Reed is co-executive producer. David Nutter ("The Mentalist," "Without a Trace" "The X-Files") directed and is executive producer of the pilot that was written by Johnson. http://www.nbc.com/chase/
'OUTLAW' -- Starring Emmy Award winner Jimmy Smits ("NYPD Blue," "The West Wing"), "Outlaw" is a new drama from executive producer John Eisendrath ("Alias," "Felicity," "Playmakers"). Cyrus Garza (Smits) is a U.S. Supreme Court justice who abruptly quits the high-level position. A playboy and a gambler, Garza had always adhered to a strict interpretation of the law until he realized the system he believed in was flawed. Now that he's quit the bench and returned to private practice, he's determined to represent "the little guy" and use his inside knowledge of the justice system to take on today's biggest legal cases -- and he's making plenty of powerful people unhappy along the way. Jesse Bradford ("The West Wing"), Carly Pope ("24"), Ellen Woglom ("Californication") and David Ramsey ("Dexter") also star. "Outlaw" is a Universal Media Studios production along with Conaco productions. Eisendrath is executive producer along with Terry George ("Hotel Rwanda," "Reservation Road"), Conan O'Brien, Jeff Ross and David Kissinger ("Andy Barker, P.I."). "Outlaw" is written by Eisendrath and directed by George. http://www.nbc.com/outlaw/
'HARRY'S LAW' -- Emmy Award-winning creator David E. Kelley ("The Practice," "Boston Legal") brings his unique storytelling to "Harry's Law," a series about fate and the people it brings together, starring Academy Award winner Kathy Bates ("Misery," "About Schmidt"). Harriet (Bates), Matthew (Ben Chaplin, "Me and Orson Wells") and Malcolm (Aml Ameen, "Kidulthood") couldn't be any more different. Harriet is a curmudgeonly ex-patent lawyer who, having just been fired from her cushy job, is completely disillusioned with her success and looking for a fresh start. Her world unexpectedly collides with Malcolm's -- a young man trying to figure out life. When he finds out Harriet is a lawyer, he begs her to represent him in an upcoming criminal case. Matthew, a dreamer at heart and also recently fired from his job as a high school teacher, is introduced to Harriet through Malcolm, a previous student of his. When these three cross paths, they realize they're all looking for a fresh start. Now, the most unlikely of people are starting a law practice in the most unlikely of places--a rundown shoe store. "Harry's Law" also stars Brittany Snow ("Hairspray") as Harriet's assistant, Jenna Backstrom and Beatrice Rosen ("Dark Knight") as Eve, a high school French teacher.
"Harry's Law" is produced by Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with David E. Kelley Productions and Warner Bros. Television. David E. Kelley ("Boston Legal," "The Practice") and Bill D'Elia ("Boston Legal," "The Practice") serve as executive producers. D'Elia also is the director. http://www.nbc.com/harrys-law/
'LAW & ORDER: LOS ANGELES' -- The new "Law & Order: Los Angeles" is a procedural crime drama that will follow the theme and storylines similar to the "Law & Order"-brand series on the streets of Los Angeles. The series, from executive producer Dick Wolf and Blake Masters "("Brotherhood"), is a Wolf Films production in association with Universal Media Studios. Casting and pre-production work are continuing. http://www.nbc.com/law-and-order-los-angeles
New Comedy Series
'PERFECT COUPLES' -- "Perfect Couples" depicts the misadventures of three engaging couples as they struggle to find out what makes the ideal relationship -- and how to maintain it through humorous trial-and-error. The series explores their heroic journey in search of the perfect relationship without destroying each other in the process. Dave (Kyle Howard, "My Boys") and Julia (Christine Woods, "Flash Forward") are the relatable, normal couple, but Julia's hope of remaining the cool, low-maintenance chick is tested by Dave's attempts to keep both his wife and his needy best friend Vance (David Walton, "Heist") equally happy. Vance, along with the neurotic Amy (Mary Elizabeth Ellis, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"), are the high-passion, high-drama couple who bring out the best and worst in each other. The third duo features Rex (Hayes MacArthur, "She's Out of My League"), a reformed party guy, and, and his wife, Leigh (Olivia Munn, "Attack of the Show"), who considers herself as the group's mother hen. Believing that they are relationship experts, Rex and Leigh have attended every class and seminar on relationships -- and regard themselves as the "perfect couple." Jon Pollack ("30 Rock") and Scott Silveri ("Friends") are the executive producers while Andy Ackerman ("Seinfeld," "The New Adventures of Old Christine") is the director. The series is produced by Universal Media Studios. http://www.nbc.com/perfect-couples/
'OUTSOURCED' -- "Outsourced" is a comedy where the Midwest meets the exotic East in a hilarious culture clash. The series centers on the all-American company Mid America Novelties that sells whoopee cushions, foam fingers and wallets made of bacon -- and whose call center has suddenly been outsourced to India. Todd Dempsy (Ben Rappaport, off-Broadway's "The Gingerbread House") is the new company's manager who learns that he's being transferred to India to run the operation. Overwhelmed, Todd discovers that his new staff needs a crash course in all things American if they are to understand the U.S. product line and ramp up sales from halfway around the world. But as strange as America seems to his eclectic sales team, Todd soon realizes that figuring out India will be more than a full-time job. Rizwan Manji ("Privileged"), Sacha Dhawan (BBC's "Five Days II"), Rebecca Hazlewood (BBC's "Doctors"), Parvesh Cheena ("Help Me Help You"), and Anisha Nagarajan (Broadway's "Bombay Dreams") also star as members of Dempsy's off-shore team; Diedrich Bader ("The Drew Carey Show") and Jessica Gower (Network Ten's "The Secret Life of Us") additionally star. "Outsourced" is produced by Universal Media Studios. Robert Borden ("The Drew Carey Show" and "George Lopez") is executive producer/writer. Ken Kwapis ("The Office") developed the project through his company, In Cahoots, and serves as executive producer/director. Alex Beattie serves as co-executive producer. http://www.nbc.com/outsourced/
'THE PAUL REISER SHOW' -- "The Paul Reiser Show" is a new single camera comedy from Emmy and Golden Globe nominated comedian-author-producer-actor Paul Reiser ("Mad About You") and writer-producer Jonathan Shapiro ("Life"). The show stars Paul Reiser as…Paul Reiser. It's been a few years since Paul's hit TV series went off the air. Since then, he's been enjoying the quiet life at home with his lovely wife and kids and generally minding his own business. Lately, however, Paul has been thinking that it's time he did something new, something meaningful. As to what that next thing might be, he has no idea. In his quest to figure it out, Paul is helped and hindered by his new "friends." Like most men his age, Paul didn't choose these friends. They're the husbands of his wife's friends, the dads of kids that his boys go to school with. Thrown together by circumstance, Paul and his friends form an unlikely comradeship -- and a horrible basketball team. In addition to Reiser, Ben Shenkman ("Angels in America") stars as Jonathan, Omid Djalili ("The Infidel") as Habib, Duane Martin ("All of Us") as Fernando, Andrew Daly ("MADtv") as Brad, Amy Landecker ("A Serious Man") as Claire, Brock Waidmann as Zeke and Koby Rouviere ("Greenberg") as Gabe. The pilot is executive produced and written by Reiser and Shapiro, produced by Craig Knizek ("Mad About You"), Merri Howard ("Cold Case") and Peter Safran ("Heist"), and directed by Bryan Gordon ("Curb Your Enthusiasm"). "The Paul Reiser Show" is a production of Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Nuance Productions and Warner Bros. Television. http://www.nbc.com/the-paul-reiser-show/
'FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS' -- From Oscar and Emmy winner Brian Grazer ("A Beautiful Mind," "Arrested Development"), "Friends With Benefits" is a half-hour comedy revolving around a group of twenty-something singles as they navigate the difficult, and often confusing, world of dating. Ben Weymouth (Ryan Hansen, "Party Down") is on the hunt for the perfect woman who meets his unique set of standards, while his best friend, Sara Maxwell (Danneel Harris, "One Tree Hill"), is just looking for a man to settle down with and raise a family. Ben and Sara have fallen into the habit of turning to each other for moral and physical support as they wait for Mr. and Ms. Right to arrive. Their friend Aaron (Fran Kranz, "Dollhouse"), a romantic at heart, doesn't approve of Ben and Sara's complicated friendship, but he, along with womanizer Hoon (Ian Reed Kesler) and straight shooter Riley (Jessica Lucas, "Cloverfield"), are all distracted with their own dating trials and tribulations. David Nevins ("Lie to Me," "Arrested Development") joins Grazer as executive producer for Imagine Television. Also serving as executive producers are David Dobkin ("Wedding Crashers"), who directs the pilot, writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber ("(500) Days of Summer"), and Jeff Kleeman. "Friends With Benefits" is a production of 20th Century Fox Television, Imagine Television and Big Kid Pictures. http://www.nbc.com/friends-with-benefits/
New One-Hour Comedy Series
'LOVE BITES' – From Emmy Award-winning writer-producer Cindy Chupack ("Sex and the City"), "Love Bites" is an hour-long romantic comedy anthology series featuring three loosely connected, modern stories of love, sex, marriage and dating. Each episode contains multiple vignettes, all illuminating the theme of love with an edgy, irreverent spin. Becki Newton ("Ugly Betty") stars as Annie and Jordana Spiro ("My Boys") stars as Frannie, the last two single girls standing after all of their friends get married. Annie is an infectiously bubbly optimist and Frannie is an always-a-bridesmaid realist. Their story will anchor the series, while other romantically-challenged characters will come and go each week. The pilot's guest cast includes Jennifer Love Hewitt ("Ghost Whisperer"), Greg Grunberg ("Heroes"), Craig Robinson ("The Office"), Jason Lewis ("Sex and the City"), Lindsay Price ("Lipstick Jungle"), Larry Wilmore ("The Daily Show"), Charlyne Yi ("Knocked Up"), Pamela Adlon ("Californication"), Stacy Galina ("Hidden Hills"), Brian Hallisay ("Privileged"), Kyle Howard ("My Boys") and Steve Howey ("Bride Wars"). "Love Bites" is a production of Universal Media Studios and Working Title Television, which is a new division of Working Title Films (the U.K. production company behind box office hits including "Love Actually," "Bridget Jones's Diary" and "Four Weddings and a Funeral"). Chupack is creator, executive producer and writer. Emmy Award-winning producer-director Marc Buckland ("My Name Is Earl") also is executive producer and directs the pilot. Eric Fellner, Tim Bevan and Shelley McCrory from Working Title Television are executive producers. "Love Bites" is Working Title Television's first U.S. commission. http://www.nbc.com/love-bites/
New Alternative Series
'SCHOOL PRIDE' – From executive producers Cheryl Hines ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") and Denise Cramsey ("Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "True Beauty"), "School Pride" is a proactive, alternative series that tells the stories of communities coming together to renovate their aging and broken public schools. While transforming the school, the community also restores its sense of value and school pride. The cameras follow students, teachers and parents as they roll up their sleeves and rebuild their own schools, concluding with the unveiling of a brand new, completely transformed school. They are motivated by a quartet of community organizers and personalities -- SWAT Commander Tom Stroup, interior designer Susie Castillo ("House of Payne"), comedian and former substitute teacher Kym Whitley ("Til Death") and political correspondent Jacob Soboroff ("AMC News"). Together, the team of experts will lead the community through the makeover process. Months later, cameras will revisit the school to discover the lasting effects of the transformation -- a renewed sense of school pride and an increase in student achievement scores. "School Pride" is produced by Horizon Alternative Television. http://www.nbc.com/school-pride/
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It’s hard sometimes to judge a new show based on a short clip, but based on what I’ve seen so far, I’d say NBC is off to an underwhelming season. Keep in mind that I am slightly older than the prized 18-49 demographic, so maybe my expectations for new, edgy, and intelligent television are set too high. Then again, maybe the 18-49 year olds’ expectations are set too low.
Please note: I am sorry, but this video is no longer available.
May 16, 2010
NBC UNVEILS 2010-11 PRIMETIME SCHEDULE ACCENTED BY FIVE NEW COMEDIES, SEVEN NEW DRAMAS AND NEW ALTERNATIVE PROGRAM
The New Fall Schedule Features All-Drama Lineups on Mondays and Wednesdays and All Comedies on Thursdays, Plus Unscripted Programming into Compatible Dramas on Tuesdays and Fridays
New Comedies Include "Friends With Benefits," "Outsourced," "Perfect Couples, "Love Bites" and "The Paul Reiser Show"
New Dramas Are "Undercovers," "The Event," "Chase," "Law & Order: Los Angeles," "Outlaw," "The Cape" and "Harry's Law"; And New Alternative Show "School Pride"
NEW YORK CITY - May 16, 2010 - NBC announced today its 2010-11 primetime schedule that is highlighted by five new comedies, seven new drama series and one new alternative program, including shows from such innovative hit-makers as J.J. Abrams, Jerry Bruckheimer and David E. Kelley, among others.
The high-quality series include new comedies such as "Outsourced," Love Bites," "Perfect Couples," "Friends With Benefits" and "The Paul Reiser Show." The new dramas are "The Cape," "Harry's Law," "Outlaw," "Undercovers," "The Event," "Chase" and "Law & Order: Los Angeles."
The schedule features all-drama lineups on Mondays and Wednesdays and five comedies on Thursdays. Tuesdays will continue to combine the similar appeal of "The Biggest Loser" with "Parenthood," and Fridays will team "Who Do You Think You Are?" and the new series "School Pride" with "Dateline NBC" and the new legal drama "Outlaw."
NBC will also broadcast a 35th anniversary "Saturday Night Live" special that will celebrate the iconic late-night series' long and eventful run on NBC since 1975.
The announcements were made by Jeff Gaspin, Chairman, NBC Universal Television Entertainment, and Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios.
"This new schedule brings NBC back to basics with its commitment to quality scripted programming," said Gaspin. "Our new shows are distinctive and feature a combination of the biggest talent, the brightest new stars and the strongest auspices in television. With this new schedule, we're poised to take the next step toward our long-term goals with a lineup that has stabilized and has been building solid momentum through the second half of the season."
"Our team has been working tirelessly to achieve our ambitious goals and we are so pleased to see that these new series demonstrate tremendous upside for NBC," said Bromstad. "We feel that this development season introduces shows that will become part of the great programming legacy of our network."
On Mondays (all times ET), NBC leads off with "Chuck" from 8-9 p.m., followed by two new and intense hour-long dramas - "The Event" (9-10 p.m.) and "Chase" (10-11 p.m.). Then on Tuesdays, NBC returns with its powerful stories from the hit alternative series "The Biggest Loser" (8-10 p.m.) and finishes the night with the acclaimed family drama "Parenthood" (10-11 p.m.).
NBC's Wednesday night features three hours of drama programming beginning with the new series "Undercovers" from J.J. Abrams (8-9 p.m.), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (9-10 p.m.) and the new "Law & Order: Los Angeles" at 10-11 p.m. concludes the night.
Primetime Thursdays feature wall-to-wall comedy as this season's freshman sensation "Community" continues at 8-8:30 p.m. followed by the Emmy Award-winning "30 Rock" (8:30-9 p.m.). The Emmy-winning "The Office" continues 9-9:30 p.m. and will be followed by the new comedy "Outsourced" (9:30-10 p.m.). Now NBC's comedy fans get an extra round of laughs when the new, hour-long comedy "Love Bites" debuts at 10-11 p.m. "Parks and Recreation" will return to Thursdays later in the season to give the night more original programming.
Fridays come alive with a fresh mix of reality, news and a new scripted drama as the popular "Who Do You Think You Are?" returns at 8-9 p.m. where it shares the time period with "School Pride" -- a new, proactive and inspiring series about rebuilding a community's schools. "Dateline NBC" continues at 9-10 p.m. with its compelling personal stories. The workweek ends with "Outlaw," a new courtroom drama featuring Emmy winner Jimmy Smits as a former U.S. Supreme Court justice.
The wildly successful "NBC Sunday Night Football" reigns supreme again on Sundays (8:15-11:30 p.m.) preceded by "Football Night in America" (7-8:15 p.m.).
Sundays beginning March 2011, the popular competition series "Minute to Win It" returns (8-9 p.m.) followed by "The Celebrity Apprentice" (9-11 p.m.)
The new series "The Cape," "Friends With Benefits," "Perfect Couples," "Harry's Law" and "The Paul Reiser Show" will premiere later in the season along with a new version of "The Apprentice" "The Marriage Ref" and the new series "America's Next Great Restaurant" -- starring acclaimed celebrity chef/restaurateur Bobby Flay....
....See the schedule, watch exclusive video, and explore NBC's upcoming shows on NBC.com: http://www.nbc.com/upcoming-shows/
NBC FALL 2010 SCHEDULE
*New programs in UPPER CASE; all times ET
MONDAY
8-9 p.m. - "Chuck"
9-10 p.m. -- "THE EVENT"
10-11 p.m. - "CHASE"
TUESDAY
8-10 p.m. - "The Biggest Loser"
10-11 p.m. - "Parenthood"
WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. - "UNDERCOVERS"
9-10 p.m. - "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"
10-11 p.m. - "LAW & ORDER: LOS ANGELES"
THURSDAY
8- 8:30 p.m. - "Community"
8:30-9 p.m. - "30 Rock"
9-9:30 p.m. - "The Office"
9:30-10 p.m. - "OUTSOURCED"
10-11 p.m. - "LOVE BITES"
FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. - "Who Do You Think You Are?"/"SCHOOL PRIDE" 9-10 p.m. - "Dateline NBC"
10-11 p.m. - "OUTLAW"
SATURDAY
Encore programming
SUNDAY
7- 8:15 p.m. -- "Football Night in America"
8:15-11:30 p.m. -- "NBC Sunday Night Football"
SUNDAY (beginning March 2011)
7-8 p.m. - "Dateline NBC"
8-9 p.m. - "Minute to Win It"
9-11 p.m. - "The Celebrity Apprentice"
2010-11 NEW SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
New Dramas
'THE EVENT' -- "The Event" is an emotional, high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker (Jason Ritter, "The Class"), an Everyman who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his fiancée, Leila (Sarah Roemer, "Disturbia"), and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history. Sean's quest will send ripples through the lives of an eclectic band of strangers, including: newly elected U.S. President Martinez (Golden Globe nominee Blair Underwood, "In Treatment"); Sophia (Emmy Award nominee Laura Innes, "ER"), who is the leader of a mysterious group of detainees; and Sean's shadowy father-in-law (Scott Patterson, "Gilmore Girls"). Their futures are on a collision course in a global conspiracy that could ultimately change the fate of mankind. Ian Anthony Dale ("Daybreak") and Emmy winner Željko Ivanek ("Damages") also star in the ensemble drama. "The Event" is a production of Universal Media Studios and Steve Stark Productions. Stark ("Medium," "Facing Kate") serves as executive producer, Nick Wauters ("The 4400," "Eureka") is creator/co-executive producer and Jeffrey Reiner ("Friday Night Lights," "Trauma") is the director/executive producer; Evan Katz ("24") also is an executive producer. http://www.nbc.com/the-event/
'UNDERCOVERS' -- Acclaimed writer/producer/director J.J. Abrams ("Star Trek," "Fringe," "Lost," "Alias") serves as co-writer, executive producer – and also directs – his first direction of a TV series pilot since "Lost" in "Undercovers" with executive producer/writer Josh Reims ("Brothers and Sisters"). "Undercovers" is a sexy, fun, action-packed spy drama that proves once and for all that marriage is still the world's most dangerous partnership. Outwardly, Steven Bloom (Boris Kodjoe, "Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion," "Soul Food," "Resident Evil: Afterlife") and his wife, Samantha (Gugu Mbatha-Raw, "Doctor Who," "Bonekickers"), are a typical married couple who own a small catering company in Los Angeles and are helped by Samantha's easily frazzled younger sister, Lizzy (Jessica Parker Kennedy, "Smallville"). Secretly, the duo were two of the CIA's best spies until they fell in love on the job five years ago and retired. When fellow spy and friend Nash (Carter MacIntyre, "American Heiress") goes missing while on the trail of a Russian arms dealer, the Blooms are reinstated by boss Carlton Shaw (Gerald McRaney, "Deadwood") to locate and rescue Nash. The pair is thrust back into the world of espionage as they follow leads that span the globe -- and Steven and Samantha realize that this supercharged, undercover lifestyle provides the excitement and romance that their marriage has been missing. Also starring is Ben Schwartz (NBC's "Parks and Recreation"). "Undercovers" is from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Bad Robot Productions and Warner Bros. Television. The pilot was written by J.J. Abrams & Josh Reims and directed by Abrams. Abrams, Reims and Bryan Burk ("Fringe," "Lost, "Alias") are the executive producers. http://www.nbc.com/undercovers/
'THE CAPE' -- "The Cape" is a one-hour drama series starring David Lyons ("ER") as Vince Faraday, an honest cop on a corrupt police force, who finds himself framed for a series of murders and presumed dead. He is forced into hiding, leaving behind his wife, Dana (Jennifer Ferrin, "Life on Mars") and son, Trip (Ryan Wynott, "Flash Forward"). Fueled by a desire to reunite with his family and to battle the criminal forces that have overtaken Palm City, Faraday becomes "The Cape" his son's favorite comic book superhero -- and takes the law into his own hands. Rounding out the cast are James Frain ("The Tudors") as billionaire Peter Fleming -- The Cape's nemesis -- who moonlights as the twisted killer: Chess; Keith David ("Death at a Funeral") as Max Malini, the ringleader of a circus gang of bank robbers who mentors Vince Faraday and trains him to be The Cape, Summer Glau ("Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles") as Orwell, an investigative blogger who wages war on crime and corruption in Palm City; and Dorian Missick ("Six Degrees") as Marty Voyt, a former police detective and friend to Faraday. "The Cape" is a Universal Media Studios and BermanBraun production from executive producer/creator Thomas Wheeler ("Empire"), executive producer/director Simon West ("Con Air"), the executive producing team of Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun (NBC's "Mercy), and executive producer Gene Stein ("Accidentally on Purpose"). http://www.nbc.com/the-cape/
'CHASE' -- "Chase" is a fast-paced drama from Emmy Award-winning executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer ("CSI" franchise, "The Amazing Race," "Pirates of the Caribbean" films) and executive producer Jennifer Johnson ("Cold Case") that drops viewers smack into the middle of a game of cat-and-mouse as a team of U.S. marshals hunts down America's most dangerous fugitives. Kelli Giddish ("Past Life") stars as U.S. Marshal Annie Frost, a cowboy boot-wearing deputy whose sharp mind and unique Texas upbringing help her track down the violent criminals on the run. Cole Hauser ("K-Ville"), Amaury Nolasco ("Prison Break"), Rose Rollins ("The L Word") and Jesse Metcalfe ("Desperate Housewives") also star as members of Frost's elite team. "Chase" is produced by Bonanza Productions Inc., in association with Jerry Bruckheimer Television and Warner Bros. Television. Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman ("CSI" franchise, "The Amazing Race," "Cold Case") and Johnson serve as executive producers, while KristieAnne Reed is co-executive producer. David Nutter ("The Mentalist," "Without a Trace" "The X-Files") directed and is executive producer of the pilot that was written by Johnson. http://www.nbc.com/chase/
'OUTLAW' -- Starring Emmy Award winner Jimmy Smits ("NYPD Blue," "The West Wing"), "Outlaw" is a new drama from executive producer John Eisendrath ("Alias," "Felicity," "Playmakers"). Cyrus Garza (Smits) is a U.S. Supreme Court justice who abruptly quits the high-level position. A playboy and a gambler, Garza had always adhered to a strict interpretation of the law until he realized the system he believed in was flawed. Now that he's quit the bench and returned to private practice, he's determined to represent "the little guy" and use his inside knowledge of the justice system to take on today's biggest legal cases -- and he's making plenty of powerful people unhappy along the way. Jesse Bradford ("The West Wing"), Carly Pope ("24"), Ellen Woglom ("Californication") and David Ramsey ("Dexter") also star. "Outlaw" is a Universal Media Studios production along with Conaco productions. Eisendrath is executive producer along with Terry George ("Hotel Rwanda," "Reservation Road"), Conan O'Brien, Jeff Ross and David Kissinger ("Andy Barker, P.I."). "Outlaw" is written by Eisendrath and directed by George. http://www.nbc.com/outlaw/
'HARRY'S LAW' -- Emmy Award-winning creator David E. Kelley ("The Practice," "Boston Legal") brings his unique storytelling to "Harry's Law," a series about fate and the people it brings together, starring Academy Award winner Kathy Bates ("Misery," "About Schmidt"). Harriet (Bates), Matthew (Ben Chaplin, "Me and Orson Wells") and Malcolm (Aml Ameen, "Kidulthood") couldn't be any more different. Harriet is a curmudgeonly ex-patent lawyer who, having just been fired from her cushy job, is completely disillusioned with her success and looking for a fresh start. Her world unexpectedly collides with Malcolm's -- a young man trying to figure out life. When he finds out Harriet is a lawyer, he begs her to represent him in an upcoming criminal case. Matthew, a dreamer at heart and also recently fired from his job as a high school teacher, is introduced to Harriet through Malcolm, a previous student of his. When these three cross paths, they realize they're all looking for a fresh start. Now, the most unlikely of people are starting a law practice in the most unlikely of places--a rundown shoe store. "Harry's Law" also stars Brittany Snow ("Hairspray") as Harriet's assistant, Jenna Backstrom and Beatrice Rosen ("Dark Knight") as Eve, a high school French teacher.
"Harry's Law" is produced by Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with David E. Kelley Productions and Warner Bros. Television. David E. Kelley ("Boston Legal," "The Practice") and Bill D'Elia ("Boston Legal," "The Practice") serve as executive producers. D'Elia also is the director. http://www.nbc.com/harrys-law/
'LAW & ORDER: LOS ANGELES' -- The new "Law & Order: Los Angeles" is a procedural crime drama that will follow the theme and storylines similar to the "Law & Order"-brand series on the streets of Los Angeles. The series, from executive producer Dick Wolf and Blake Masters "("Brotherhood"), is a Wolf Films production in association with Universal Media Studios. Casting and pre-production work are continuing. http://www.nbc.com/law-and-order-los-angeles
New Comedy Series
'PERFECT COUPLES' -- "Perfect Couples" depicts the misadventures of three engaging couples as they struggle to find out what makes the ideal relationship -- and how to maintain it through humorous trial-and-error. The series explores their heroic journey in search of the perfect relationship without destroying each other in the process. Dave (Kyle Howard, "My Boys") and Julia (Christine Woods, "Flash Forward") are the relatable, normal couple, but Julia's hope of remaining the cool, low-maintenance chick is tested by Dave's attempts to keep both his wife and his needy best friend Vance (David Walton, "Heist") equally happy. Vance, along with the neurotic Amy (Mary Elizabeth Ellis, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"), are the high-passion, high-drama couple who bring out the best and worst in each other. The third duo features Rex (Hayes MacArthur, "She's Out of My League"), a reformed party guy, and, and his wife, Leigh (Olivia Munn, "Attack of the Show"), who considers herself as the group's mother hen. Believing that they are relationship experts, Rex and Leigh have attended every class and seminar on relationships -- and regard themselves as the "perfect couple." Jon Pollack ("30 Rock") and Scott Silveri ("Friends") are the executive producers while Andy Ackerman ("Seinfeld," "The New Adventures of Old Christine") is the director. The series is produced by Universal Media Studios. http://www.nbc.com/perfect-couples/
'OUTSOURCED' -- "Outsourced" is a comedy where the Midwest meets the exotic East in a hilarious culture clash. The series centers on the all-American company Mid America Novelties that sells whoopee cushions, foam fingers and wallets made of bacon -- and whose call center has suddenly been outsourced to India. Todd Dempsy (Ben Rappaport, off-Broadway's "The Gingerbread House") is the new company's manager who learns that he's being transferred to India to run the operation. Overwhelmed, Todd discovers that his new staff needs a crash course in all things American if they are to understand the U.S. product line and ramp up sales from halfway around the world. But as strange as America seems to his eclectic sales team, Todd soon realizes that figuring out India will be more than a full-time job. Rizwan Manji ("Privileged"), Sacha Dhawan (BBC's "Five Days II"), Rebecca Hazlewood (BBC's "Doctors"), Parvesh Cheena ("Help Me Help You"), and Anisha Nagarajan (Broadway's "Bombay Dreams") also star as members of Dempsy's off-shore team; Diedrich Bader ("The Drew Carey Show") and Jessica Gower (Network Ten's "The Secret Life of Us") additionally star. "Outsourced" is produced by Universal Media Studios. Robert Borden ("The Drew Carey Show" and "George Lopez") is executive producer/writer. Ken Kwapis ("The Office") developed the project through his company, In Cahoots, and serves as executive producer/director. Alex Beattie serves as co-executive producer. http://www.nbc.com/outsourced/
'THE PAUL REISER SHOW' -- "The Paul Reiser Show" is a new single camera comedy from Emmy and Golden Globe nominated comedian-author-producer-actor Paul Reiser ("Mad About You") and writer-producer Jonathan Shapiro ("Life"). The show stars Paul Reiser as…Paul Reiser. It's been a few years since Paul's hit TV series went off the air. Since then, he's been enjoying the quiet life at home with his lovely wife and kids and generally minding his own business. Lately, however, Paul has been thinking that it's time he did something new, something meaningful. As to what that next thing might be, he has no idea. In his quest to figure it out, Paul is helped and hindered by his new "friends." Like most men his age, Paul didn't choose these friends. They're the husbands of his wife's friends, the dads of kids that his boys go to school with. Thrown together by circumstance, Paul and his friends form an unlikely comradeship -- and a horrible basketball team. In addition to Reiser, Ben Shenkman ("Angels in America") stars as Jonathan, Omid Djalili ("The Infidel") as Habib, Duane Martin ("All of Us") as Fernando, Andrew Daly ("MADtv") as Brad, Amy Landecker ("A Serious Man") as Claire, Brock Waidmann as Zeke and Koby Rouviere ("Greenberg") as Gabe. The pilot is executive produced and written by Reiser and Shapiro, produced by Craig Knizek ("Mad About You"), Merri Howard ("Cold Case") and Peter Safran ("Heist"), and directed by Bryan Gordon ("Curb Your Enthusiasm"). "The Paul Reiser Show" is a production of Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Nuance Productions and Warner Bros. Television. http://www.nbc.com/the-paul-reiser-show/
'FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS' -- From Oscar and Emmy winner Brian Grazer ("A Beautiful Mind," "Arrested Development"), "Friends With Benefits" is a half-hour comedy revolving around a group of twenty-something singles as they navigate the difficult, and often confusing, world of dating. Ben Weymouth (Ryan Hansen, "Party Down") is on the hunt for the perfect woman who meets his unique set of standards, while his best friend, Sara Maxwell (Danneel Harris, "One Tree Hill"), is just looking for a man to settle down with and raise a family. Ben and Sara have fallen into the habit of turning to each other for moral and physical support as they wait for Mr. and Ms. Right to arrive. Their friend Aaron (Fran Kranz, "Dollhouse"), a romantic at heart, doesn't approve of Ben and Sara's complicated friendship, but he, along with womanizer Hoon (Ian Reed Kesler) and straight shooter Riley (Jessica Lucas, "Cloverfield"), are all distracted with their own dating trials and tribulations. David Nevins ("Lie to Me," "Arrested Development") joins Grazer as executive producer for Imagine Television. Also serving as executive producers are David Dobkin ("Wedding Crashers"), who directs the pilot, writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber ("(500) Days of Summer"), and Jeff Kleeman. "Friends With Benefits" is a production of 20th Century Fox Television, Imagine Television and Big Kid Pictures. http://www.nbc.com/friends-with-benefits/
New One-Hour Comedy Series
'LOVE BITES' – From Emmy Award-winning writer-producer Cindy Chupack ("Sex and the City"), "Love Bites" is an hour-long romantic comedy anthology series featuring three loosely connected, modern stories of love, sex, marriage and dating. Each episode contains multiple vignettes, all illuminating the theme of love with an edgy, irreverent spin. Becki Newton ("Ugly Betty") stars as Annie and Jordana Spiro ("My Boys") stars as Frannie, the last two single girls standing after all of their friends get married. Annie is an infectiously bubbly optimist and Frannie is an always-a-bridesmaid realist. Their story will anchor the series, while other romantically-challenged characters will come and go each week. The pilot's guest cast includes Jennifer Love Hewitt ("Ghost Whisperer"), Greg Grunberg ("Heroes"), Craig Robinson ("The Office"), Jason Lewis ("Sex and the City"), Lindsay Price ("Lipstick Jungle"), Larry Wilmore ("The Daily Show"), Charlyne Yi ("Knocked Up"), Pamela Adlon ("Californication"), Stacy Galina ("Hidden Hills"), Brian Hallisay ("Privileged"), Kyle Howard ("My Boys") and Steve Howey ("Bride Wars"). "Love Bites" is a production of Universal Media Studios and Working Title Television, which is a new division of Working Title Films (the U.K. production company behind box office hits including "Love Actually," "Bridget Jones's Diary" and "Four Weddings and a Funeral"). Chupack is creator, executive producer and writer. Emmy Award-winning producer-director Marc Buckland ("My Name Is Earl") also is executive producer and directs the pilot. Eric Fellner, Tim Bevan and Shelley McCrory from Working Title Television are executive producers. "Love Bites" is Working Title Television's first U.S. commission. http://www.nbc.com/love-bites/
New Alternative Series
'SCHOOL PRIDE' – From executive producers Cheryl Hines ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") and Denise Cramsey ("Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "True Beauty"), "School Pride" is a proactive, alternative series that tells the stories of communities coming together to renovate their aging and broken public schools. While transforming the school, the community also restores its sense of value and school pride. The cameras follow students, teachers and parents as they roll up their sleeves and rebuild their own schools, concluding with the unveiling of a brand new, completely transformed school. They are motivated by a quartet of community organizers and personalities -- SWAT Commander Tom Stroup, interior designer Susie Castillo ("House of Payne"), comedian and former substitute teacher Kym Whitley ("Til Death") and political correspondent Jacob Soboroff ("AMC News"). Together, the team of experts will lead the community through the makeover process. Months later, cameras will revisit the school to discover the lasting effects of the transformation -- a renewed sense of school pride and an increase in student achievement scores. "School Pride" is produced by Horizon Alternative Television. http://www.nbc.com/school-pride/
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Friday, May 14, 2010
Fringe “Over There Part 1” Recap & Review
All photos from Fox We actually do take a trip “Over There” in this episode of Fringe (Fox). Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble) and a few other people part of Walter’s Cortexaphan experiments head over to the alternate universe to try to bring Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) back. It seems that Peter has crossed over to the other side with “The Secretary” - who is the Walter Bishop alternate (“Walternate”) and who is Peter’s real father. Major gloom and doom will ensue if he stays there, according to Walter. This episode gives us a good look at life in the alternate universe, with its different scenery (the World Trade Center Twin Towers are still standing, the Status of Liberty looks brand new, and dirigibles fly in the sky), different money (a $20 bill is a “Junior” for Martin Luther King, Jr., and a coin has Nixon’s face on it), and a different ID system ("show me"). Our main characters also have their counterparts who look different – and some that we know to be dead are still alive here. It’s an interesting episode that serves to set up the season finale very nicely. This has been a fantastic season of Fringe so far, and I suspect that fans will not only be excited about the finale, but also energized for the next season.
Here’s what happens in this episode:
When the episode opens, we’re already on the other side, watching the alternate Fringe team with a strawberry blond-ish looking Agent Olivia Dunham and her team – made up of a very edgy dressed agent Broyles (Lance Reddick), Agent and Charlie Francis (Kirk Acevedo), and Nick (David Call) – who on the “real” side is one of the Cortexaphan test group. They are investigating a “breach” in a large theatre – and after tense moments which included Broyles working with what seems to be a version of Astrid (Jasika Nicole) who seems to have some special ability, they don’t need to quarantine the area in the theatre. We see, though, that the breach was caused by Olivia, Walter, and 3 other members of the Cortexaphan test group crossing over to the alternate universe. The alternate Fringies find a body that doesn’t have a “show me” – which is their version of an ID – and the person has a $20 bill on them that is foreign to the alternates.
The story goes back 36 hours, and we see Walter in his lab, sadly watching a video of Peter disappearing in a flash with Walternate. Olivia is drowning her sorrows in a bar, but an Observer walks by and leaves her what looks like a large piece of paper. When Walter calls Olivia telling her something terrible is going to happen to Peter, she tries to calm him, but she looks at the paper the Observer left her and it is drawing of an odd machine and Peter's face with what looks like glowing fire coming out of his eyes. Later, when she shows this to Walter, he thinks this is what has been upsetting him and says "My son is going to be responsible for the end of the world."
Walter knows he needs to go to the other side to get Peter back and enlists the help of Nina Sharp (Blair Brown) at Massive Dynamic, who recognizes the machine as William Bell’s technology, but says they never built it. As they work to get to the other side, Massive Dynamic lab geek Brandon (Ryan McDonald) shows them the danger of going over – their molecular make up could shatter, and that William Bell crossed so many times he became molecularly unstable. Walter doesn’t want to build another door like the one he first used to get Peter – he is concerned both worlds would be destroyed. He thinks he could do it with Olivia and the Cortexaphan group. When Broyles says they do have a few more of them other than Olivia, they decide to use them to make the cross over. James Heath (Omar Metwally), the guy who transfer cancer can now cure disease. Sally Clark (Pascale Hutton) is a controlled pyro-kenetic and Nick Lane can seemingly transfer his feelings, making everyone, including Broyles, laugh.
Walter later talks with the Cortexaphan group and despite Heath seeming a little skeptical of Walter, they decide to cross over with him. After having the night off – and after Olivia gives her crucifix to her niece Ella (Lily Pilblad), and hugs her sister Rachel (Ari Graynor), she heads off to the theatre which is their best place to cross over. Nina sends a message to William Bell on the other side as to where to meet them, and hopes that he will get it. Despite Broyles objections, Walter will cross over with them, and they join in a circle and essentially “will” themselves over.
Once there, sirens can be heard and James falls ill and collapses and they must leave him. They quickly make their escape as they watch the alternate Fringe team work on the breach. Once outside, they try to get to the meeting place but they don’t have a “show me” to get on the bus, so they have to walk. Sally also becomes ill and Nick tries to help.
Meanwhile, the $20 bill the alternate Fringies found raises a red flag to the Department of Defense and they are called in to see The Secretary. He admits that although they think the Fringe team was created to investigate natural disasters that have occurred since the "zero event" in 1985 at Raden Lake (which is where Walter crossed over to get Peter), causing tears in the universe, and that the Secretary wrote about them in the “ZFT” in 1995, that the ZFT is a half-truth. The tears aren't natural and lead to a parallel earth. He believes the dead man they found didn't come over alone and he thinks the "invaders are anything but peaceful."
Elsewhere, Peter, after sleeping for 3 days, wakes up in a bed in a home in the country, and his mother Elizabeth (Orla Brady), is cooking breakfast. She tells him he's been sleeping for three days. They have an emotional hug. Later, they talk about his “other mother” and her suicide. She gives him something from Walternate. He looks at it later, and it is the blueprint for the same machine in the drawing the Observer gave to Olivia.
Walter, Olivia, and the others reach the area where they expect to meet William Bell, and instead are greeted by the alternate Fringe division, who fire their guns on them. They all attempt to flee, but Sally is ill and Nick again tries to help her. Nick gets shot, and in retaliation, Sally shoots a ball of fire at alternate Nick, turning him into a crispy critter – alive but badly burned. Nick and Sally have also vaporized. But later, and separated from Olivia, Walter realizes he was shot, and collapses at the entrance of a hospital. Olivia has tracked down the address of her alternate and stands outside her home, seeing that her alternate has male company. And soon Olivia herself has company – William Bell (Leonard Nimoy) who meets her on the sidewalk and says he got the message too late and he knew she would come here. He tells her Walter's in trouble and they don't have much time.
Elsewhere, Walternate walks into a large, secret-looking room and we see what looks like a parchment paper that depicts the machine and Peter with his glowing fiery eyes, like the drawing the Observer gave to Olivia. There seems to be strange writing on it. Walter looks up at what looks like the machine. He takes something out of a case that is marked “mC Wave Sink No. 3” and leaves the room with it, and as the door closes behind him, we cut to black.
Stay tuned for part 2 next week – the season finale!
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Tuesday, May 11, 2010
House “Baggage” Recap & Review: A Suitcase Full of Problems
Photo from FoxOne thing that Dr. Greg House (Hugh Laurie) has a lot of is baggage, and I think they tried to dump most of it on viewers in this one episode. The episode plays out in the form of a therapy session and House’s memories of recent events, and something about his memories struck me as odd. In his scenes with Dr. Nolan, everything seemed to have a cool color cast, while his memories were mostly filled with a warm, CSI-Miami-like glow. It is almost as if House’s real life looks much bleaker than his memories, which may or may not be embellished a bit.
House has a session with Dr. Nolan (Andre Braugher) and House is being his typical annoying self, almost playing a cat and mouse game with Nolan, telling him a lot of things while really telling him nothing at all. He says it’s been a year since he’s been in rehab, and sadly House seems not to have progressed very much, at least as far as his relationship with colleagues and friends.
The patient of the week had amnesia, and House takes the case almost too anxiously. At this same time. Dr. Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) also tells House that Sam is moving in and it’s time for House to move out and go back to his old place. I think Wilson has been carrying and enabling House for far too long, and House must be truly clueless if he didn’t see this coming. Nolan seems to think that House’s problems go back to his relationship with Wilson and being kicked out. But things take a weird turn when House returns to his old place and finds former fellow mental patient Alvie (Lin-Manuel Miranda ) living there, painting the place. He’s hiding out from immigration, and House gets very upset when he finds out Alvie sold some of the items from his apartment to pay for the expensive paint. He wants Alvie out but instead he allows Alvie to tag along with him as he tries to solve the mystery of the amnesiac patient. I find Alvie as annoying as when Lucas attached himself to House (and vice versa) and I wonder why they insist on having House pal up with these oddball people. WHY he pals up with them is also a mystery to me – he’s a smart guy and people like Alvie and Lucas all seem off to me. Maybe House thinks that people like that can be easily used – but then again, they both turned away from House in their own way, Lucas with Cuddy and later Alvie when he eventually leaves after House helps him get his problem with immigration fixed. An example of how House used Alvie: House is able to buy back from the pawn shop all the things Alvie sold except for one item, a first edition medical book that I think was written by (I think) Cuddy’s great grandfather. The problem: the book was purchased by another doctor who realized the book’s value - and who is just as big of a jerk as House – and refuses to sell the book back to House, even for $2,000. While House is haggling with the guy, Alvie is stealing the book. House shows again what a jerk he can be, and how he can use people.
But the amnesiac patient – remember the patient? – has issues when she finds out she’s married and it seems she doesn’t like the idea of being married OR the guy she’s married to. When her husband balks at an operation that House says will save her life but will permanently erase her memories, the delay causes the disease to progress and operating is no longer an option. After Dr. Nolan goes through his psychobabble on that issue and how it related to House, I find that I am losing interest. By the way, it’s a good thing that the husband delayed the surgery because House later found the REAL cause of her illness – an allergic reaction to the removal of an old tattoo – and it seems like husband and wife are finding a way to mend their relationship.
When House gets home and finds Alvie gone, leaving a goodbye note, he gets drunk and leaves his apartment, eventually getting in a fight with someone a person whose identity we are never told and I am not even sure we were told the reason for the fight. In fact, when Nolan again tries to analyze all of House’s behavior, thinking he identified with the amnesiac patient’s husband and the prospect he was losing his wife, relating this to house losing Cuddy to Lucas, House gets upset. House thinks that everybody around him over the past year seems happy BUT himself, and says to Nolan that "whatever the answer is, you don't have it," and abruptly leaves the office. The episode ends with that hanging scene. House’s mental state is still a mess. He’s in denial, he’s in pain, he’s unhappy, and despite his attempts to be toxic to everyone else being happy, he’s only been toxic to himself. A year later, House is still nowhere. I find myself wondering again this week if he is back on drugs and not saying anything about it, or is just drinking more as a substitute for the Vicodin.
“Baggage” was a little too messy of an episode to be enjoyable. It also descended into the ridiculous when it expected us to think that Alvie had been crashing in House’s old apartment (for how long I don’t think they really said) and that House just let him hang out with him like puppy dog even after Alvie sold some of his stuff. It was just too contrived and felt like the storyline had been dropped from the sky. The only thing that saved the episode for me was Andre Braugher as Dr. Nolan, who seemed completely believable in trying to get to the bottom of House’s real problem. And what IS House’s real problem? I think they want us to think it is unrequited love for Cuddy. If that’s all that it is, I think I will be disappointed. I think House’s problems are far deeper than that. Sadly, although House is supposed to be a well renowned diagnostician, he still can’t seem to diagnose his own problem. Maybe because it’s not a physical problem, it’s a mental problem, or maybe it’s because he is too close to the situation. One thing is for sure, the outwardly tough and in-control House seems anything but, and we can only wonder if his breaking point is coming soon. Who knows, maybe we will find out in next week’s season finale.
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Friday, May 7, 2010
Fringe “Northwest Passage” Recap & Review: Peter and Walternate Reunite
All photos from FoxFringe “Northwest Passage” focuses on Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson). who is in Washington State, seemingly trying to put as much distance between him and his life in Boston with Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble). He had previously found that he is from the alternate universe, and he needs time – and distance – to sort things through. Peter Bishop is one of those characters on the show that is important, yet gets the least amount of screen time than the other lead stars, and it was nice to see that Peter’s character can carry a show on his own. It was also nice to see that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, as in this episode Peter, like his father(s), uses science to help crack a case.
The biggest surprise/non-surprise at the end of the show was the appearance of the "Secretary" who is none other than the alternate Walker - AKA the "Walternate." It wasn't hard to deduce that Walter from the other side would find a way to come over to "our" side and get his son. Now the real battle will begin, and based on the previews, Peter will be sucked into it, front and center.
Here's what happened:
While off by himself in a remote area of Washington State, Peter strikes up a quick friendship with a waitress at a diner. She often males music CDs for regular customers, and decides even though she knows little about Peter, she'll make him one and bring it to his hotel. She never shows. When Peter gets to the diner and finds she is missing, the local sheriff''s office focuses their attention on Peter. When her body is found, things look grim for Peter, who is locked up in the back of the sheriff''s car. But quickly he goes from suspect to colleague when he asks Sheriff Tracy Mathis (Martha Plimpton) to check to see if the woman has a part of her brain missing - her temporal lobe – and it turns out that is exactly the case. Mathis still is guarded about Peter, but doesn’t verify his story about working with the FBI. Peter had tipped of Agent Broyles (Lance Reddick) but swore Broyles to secrecy with Walter about his location.
Meanwhile, Walter is back in Boston and freaks out in a supermarket while shopping, upset about the chemicals being put into toaster pastries. It’s clear that he misses Peter and his mental state is falling apart and he seems depressed. When Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) and Astrid (Jasika Nicole) get Walter back home, his house is a complete mess and there is only what looks like a piece of spoiled fruit in the refrigerator. Astrid begins to help get Walter settled back down, making sure he gets his supply of pudding pops, and his mind gets settled enough for him to think about how to find Peter. He realizes that some of the things he brought back from Jacksonville are from the alternate universe and have the “glimmer”. If he can get the proper frequency from that glimmer, he can find a way to track Peter.
Back in Washington, things get complicated for Peter as he gets phone calls where no one is there, just static. He also thought he saw Newton (Sebastian Roché) at the crime scene, and later, with Mathis, sees him again in the woods when they search for Deputy Ferguson (Patrick Gilmore) who has also gone missing. When he and Mathis get separated and Peter shoots at Newton – nothing is there, though – Mathis catches up to him. Peter seems worried that she is now a shape shifter, and asks her to tell him about what she dropped in the morgue. When she answers it was the pen that said "Find the crack" on it, a gift from her partner Ferguson, he knows this is only something she would know, and he knows she is not a shape shifter. The “find the crack” on the pen meant that in the darkness, look for the crack as that is how the light gets though.
When they get a call about another dead body, they worry it is Ferguson, but instead it is another woman, and a part of her skull and brain is missing. But while the first victim and Ferguson both had direct interaction with Peter and whose temporal lobes may have been able to give information about Peter, this latest victim is completely unknown to Peter, and she hadn’t been to any of the places Peter has been before, either. But when they find her truck abandoned on the road, they realize that she may have been stopped by the police – or someone impersonating a cop. Mathis again wants to call the FBI, but Peter talks her out of it. He has an idea – the victims may have all be terrified when they died, and he can use adrenaline absorption from their bodies in order to determine time of death, and with that, a possible location of where they were taken to have their temporal lobes removed.
Back in the morgue, in a “like father like son” scene, Peter uses the brain chemistry and calculations in order to map possible locations. Mathis recalls a large dairy farm in that central area. When they both head there, the man there seems normal – and answers the right question so they know he is not a shape shifter. He also seems and willing to help, but when Mathis leaves to call for backup, Peter sees a music CD that the waitress made for him, and the dairy farmer guy lunges at Peter in attack. But Peter gets the upper hand as Mathis returns. Dairy farmer guy says he just wanted to be close to the girls and couldn't stop. They also find Ferguson in another room, alive and with his brain intact.
Afterwards, Mathis thanks Peter for helping her find Ferguson and the killer – even though the killer may not have been who Peter thought. She wishes she could do something for him, and when he says he doesn’t know who he is anymore, she tells him a personal story. Her family was murdered when she was in college and she still thinks she might catch whoever did it. But she's found her place now, and says he will too. She gives Peter her "Find the Crack" pen.
Back in Boston in the lab, Walter is working on his plan to find Peter, but when Astrid catches that Walter purposely put in the wrong numbers, he says he worried what will happen if he finds Peter and Peter won't forgive him. Olivia enters and says she found Peter – I am sure Broyles told her when Olivia pressured him – and she flying to Washington and invites Walter to come along.Back in Washington, Peter thinks all is done andhe can finally relax. When he begins to listen to the CD the waitress made for him, he closes is eyes but suddenly sees Newton standing over him, with a gun aimed at him. Newton calls for "Mr. Secretary" to come out, and we see it is none other than Walter – or shall I say “Walternate” – as it is the alternate universe Walter Bishop, Peter's real father. He says “Hello son" and, with a stunned Peter. we go to black.
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