Reader Q&A
TV critic Matthew Gilbert took your questions
Boston Globe TV critic Matthew Gilbert was online July 10 at noon to field your questions and comments. Miss the chat? Catch up here.
Matthew_Gilbert: G'day, all.
Toeknee__Guest_: Hi Matt. I'm psyched for Generation Kill this Sunday. How much of it have you seen and how do you like it? I'm hoping it will be as good as "Band of Brothers" and "The Wire", 2 of my all-time favorites.
Matthew_Gilbert: Yo, Toe. I've seen the first five episodes, and it's amazing. Difficult, unromanticized, chaotic (like "The Wire"), and yet it accumulates into something very powerful and significant.
Matthew_Gilbert: Viewers will have to be patient with it, but patient viewers will be rewarded,
Matthew_Gilbert: Did that sound like ad copy?
rachjak__Guest_: Dear MATtv, Thanks for getting up so early. In your excoriation of the car(toon) guys, you made reference to the TV version of This American Life, though you
rachjak__Guest_: This American Life, though two weeks ago you admitted you hadn' t watched this season of TAL. Do TV critics use fact checkers?
Matthew_Gilbert: Um, I've seen This American Life -- watched the whole first season.
Matthew_Gilbert: But in my review of the awful Car Talk cartoon, I only mentioned that Click and Clack were turning a radio show into a TV show like This American Life.
Matthew_Gilbert: So stop picking on me.
SYTYCD__Guest_: So what do you think about Project Runway's move to Lifetime? Do you think it's going to be a big mistake?
Matthew_Gilbert: I'm kinda thinking it will be a mistake. Project Runway and Bravo are so perfectly matched.
Matthew_Gilbert: Bravo isn't even promoting the new season of PR, because it's their last. So the show will be arriving at Lifetime after a low-profile season, methinks....
Nicolina__Guest_: HI Matt.. Have you heard any news on Veronica Mars? Will it ever return? I will lie and say I'm a teenager that watches if you ask my age :)
Matthew_Gilbert: No, my dear. It won't return, I'm afraid. All involved have moved on. Enrico Colantonio is the star of a new SWAT team series that premieres on CBS tomorrow night called KillPOint.
ScottA__Guest_: Matt, I'm a big fan of FNL and Kyle Chandler's work on it. I recall "Homefront" from the early '90s, another show I liked a great deal. What are the chances something like that will ever get the DVD treatment?
Matthew_Gilbert: Yeah, Chandler's really good. Did you hear him on Terry Gross's NPR radio show? He was really interesting.
Matthew_Gilbert: FNL is on DVD. Do we know that Homefront isn't? Have you done your googling?
lostfan789__Guest_: have you seen vh1's i love the millenium? Talk about being greedy! How can you do a decade review BEFORE THE DECADE IS OVER????
Matthew_Gilbert: I think that VH1 really went over the top with that one. HOW RIDICULOUS! Of course, I'm glad they did -- gives me more ammunition to make fun of them in the critic's corner.
HJ__Guest_: Hi - what's the buzz on the upcoming NCIS season?
Matthew_Gilbert: There is no buzz. NCIS -- you know, it just doesn't get much buzz. And yet it's a solid hit.
Matthew_Gilbert: I guess buzz is only for the kool kidz.
LittleEthel__Guest_: I want s Golden Girls reunion. Filmed at Shady Pines.
Matthew_Gilbert: You can dream if you want to, Little Ethel. I won't be stopping you.
rachjak__Guest_: You've tv is so small. I've never seen a tv that small.
Matthew_Gilbert: Why I oughta...
Matthew_Gilbert: Rachjak, be nice.
smosh__Guest_: when was the last time Heroes was even on? Did it have a second or 3rd season?
Matthew_Gilbert: Heroes had an abbreviated second season, because of the writers' strike. Some shows went back into production after the strike, and some, like Heroes and Pushing Daisies and Private Practice, did not. But it will be back for a third season this fall, and, I hope, improved.
Toeknee__Guest_: What's the story with the potential actor's strike?
Matthew_Gilbert: The story, as I understand it, is that the strike is less likely now that AFTRA has ratified its contract....
Matthew_Gilbert: We'll see what happens with SAG.
Anne__Guest_: Hi Matthew, I was wondering if you kept up with So You Think You Can Dance and had any thoughts on their peculiar Top 20 this year, or on Mary Murphy's voice? Is there any chance Fox will arrange for her to be exposed to some serious laryngitis and spare us all?
Matthew_Gilbert: I don't Anne, but my fellow TV critic Joanna Weiss does. And she blogs episodes of it regularly at our TV blog, called Viewer Discretion.
icecop44__Guest_: What is up with all of these Brits on TV? Simon (the bore) Cowell, all of the nanny programs and dance compitions? It drives so crazy that I have no desire to watch
Matthew_Gilbert: It's funny now -- all the reality shows need to have a British accent in the mix. I guess we love to hear the Brits be mean. Remember "You are the weakest link -- goodbye"?!
Matthew_Gilbert: Reversely, the Brits are also taking over scripted TV, but with very well done American accents. Hugh Laurie on House, Damien Lewis on "Life," and a whole mess of others....
Missing_Lost__Guest_: Matt, I just discovered Mad Men season one on On Demand. How long was the first season? How did it do critically/numbers wise? I hadn't heard much about this show til recently, maybe I've been living under a rock, entirely possible
Matthew_Gilbert: Yeah, you and a lot of others are finally getting smart. AMC is putting a lot of promotional money toward the show, for its return on July 27. Plus, it won a few Golden Globes and Emmy semifinalist slots, so it has been getting more attention.
Matthew_Gilbert: The series got about a million viewers a week last summer, for, I believe, its 13 episodes.
Matthew_Gilbert: But, now that the word on the show is out there, I expect it will do a lot better this season and turn AMC into a real player.
Matthew_Gilbert: BTW, creator Matthew Weiner has already said he'll only do 5 seasons of the show. Love it.
Toeknee__Guest_: Are SAG and AFTRA two different unions? I thought there was just SAG, but what do I know
Matthew_Gilbert: Yup, different.
rachjak__Guest_: Not at all, big boy. I meant that metaphorically. You never talk about all those other channels - news, sports, niche stuff, selective old movie gems. Are HBO, Showtime and a few networks really all there is? Is the cliche about 157 channels and nothing on a truism after all?
Matthew_Gilbert: I think I do talk about those things all the time, big boy (girl?). Check out my daily critic's corner -- it's filled with movies and discovery-history-natgeo type stuff. Also, I spend a lot of time reviewing stuff on FX, TNT, USA, and Lifetime.
Matthew_Gilbert: But still, while I like to write about what's out there in American culture, I also like to focus on the good stuff. Maybe I can guide a few viewers to shows they'll like? And those shows are often on HBO and Showtime....
Missing_Lost__Guest_: Will we ever see another successful "smart" comedy? Or are we doomed to a lifetime of 2.5 Men-type shows. I shudder thinking about the royalties they are making off those endless re-runs. I am still mourning Arrested Development, btw.
Matthew_Gilbert: I feel confident that good comedy is still alive on TV. The Office is a little played out, as is Scrubs; but 30 Rock is strong, and so is How I Met Your Mother. Also, on HBO there's the Flight of the Conchords, and on Showtime there's Californication. So don't throw in the towel, my friend.
DylanMcCay__Guest_: What about the NEW 90210...any chnace it make sit?
Matthew_Gilbert: It will sit, but it won't stay.
Matthew_Gilbert: Oh -- you mean "makes it." I am quite skeptical about this one. I think it will get a big initial burst of viewers, what with the curiosity factor. But I don't imagine it taking off. Just an intuition.
VampSeason2__Guest_: I would really like to see Moonlight back for Season 2. The chances seem quite dim. What do you think?
Matthew_Gilbert: People in hell want ice water.
Matthew_Gilbert: But they don't get it.
Matthew_Gilbert: Sorry Vamp -- couldn't resist.
Missing_Lost__Guest_: When do you start getting to preview the new fall shows? Are you already being sent tons of promotional stuff? Will anything be good enough to occupy us til Lost returns?
Matthew_Gilbert: This is going to be a strange summer, fall-TV wise. The strike is still having an impact. So far, only CBS has sent out pilots.
Matthew_Gilbert: And I have yet to watch them. But will soon, with my fingers crossed.
lg__Guest_: what about HGTV - I am suddenly addicted this summer, I have no idea why. But I got sucked into the Design Star show, it's cute. But they actually aired a commercial (many times) basically giving away the shocking aspect of the big "shocking episode". I know it's only hgtv, but come on - why does every channel out there have to give everything away before the show? I like surprises. And the latest tv guide mag gave away that col carter is now gone from stargate atlantis... that's kind of big to give away, even though it would be hard to ignore the promos for her new show I guess...
Matthew_Gilbert: It's a weird moment, spoiler wise. You have to proceed very carefully through magazines and TV commercials and websites and entertainment news shows. You kind of have to keep your blinders at the ready at all times.
Matthew_Gilbert: But it is indeed silly for a channel to give away twists from its own shows. Bad form, for sure.
pg__Guest_: Have you seen A&E's new show, The Cleaner? If so, is it any good?
Matthew_Gilbert: I have, and it isn't.
Matthew_Gilbert: It's not awful, and there are some redeeming things about it. But I am disappointed.
Matthew_Gilbert: Even the title is mediocre. "The Cleaner"?? Because he tries to force addicts to stay clean? Hmm...
Kayla44__Guest_: Hi Matt....what are you favorite guilty pleasure shows? Mine is Gossip Girl... which I know is coming back, but I seem to remember reading a while ago it was in danger of getting canceled. Are they coming back for a full second season? I would think they would be one of the CWs top shows?
Matthew_Gilbert: GG is my favorite guilty pleasure these days. I haven't missed an episode. And it has been renewed for a full second season, so hold on. It will be back.
Matthew_Gilbert: Thanks for showing up on this gorgeous day, friends. Enjoy.
Matthew_Gilbert: MG
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