Chat transcript
Talk TV
Boston Globe TV critic Matthew Gilbert was online June 26 at noon to field your questions and comments. Miss the chat? Catch up here.
The transcript follows.
Matthew_Gilbert: Hi Friends. Welcome to the TV chat.
JD_2__Guest_: Your thoughts on Jimmy Fallon taking over for Conan? And, for that matter, on how Conan will do on the Tonight Show? Like him or not, Jay Leno is still pulling down the numbers ahead of Letterman. Can Conan's sensibilities keep them?
Matthew_Gilbert: I'm looking forward to seeing what Conan will do. He does best when the expectations are low, and he's the underdog -- so this switch should put him in fighting mode. I think he'll surprise us all by bringing in big numbers -- maybe different numbers from Jay, as in younger, but bigger. Fallon, on the other hand, bums me out. I just don't think he has enough likability.
Fat_Faced_Rick__Guest_: Have you seen Generation Kill? Is it going to be worth subscribing to HBO. We canceled it after The Wire ended.
Matthew_Gilbert: I've seen only the first episode, and I was pleased, if not blown away. David Simon's stuff usually takes a few episodes to build, but when it does -- it's great. I'll review the show in depth before it premieres on July 17.
Matthew_Gilbert: The guy who played Ziggy on "The Wire" is really good in Generation Kill, by the way, as is Lee Tergesen, from "Oz." Tergesen plays the Rolling Stone reporter embedded in Iraq.
bf__Guest_: you watch bones at all? any thoughts on all the killer-zack story hating?
Matthew_Gilbert: I watch Bones intermittently. Sometimes it amuses me, but mostly it annoys me. And the Zack storyline was only more annoyance. COME ON. I admired the boldness of doing that to a regular character -- CSI wimped out on the miniature serial killer plot -- but still, it didn't work. Zack?
Anti_Reality_Shows__Guest_: Have you seen the pilot for Fringe? If so, any thoughts? I thought it was just ok.
Matthew_Gilbert: Are you asking me if I illegally saw it online? Why Anti, I would never do that.
Matches_Malone__Guest_: The first two episodes of "The 2 Coreys" were very satisfying to watch, if not scary. What is your take on that show?
Matthew_Gilbert: I haven't seen any of the new season yet, but the last season irritated me. It was all too plotted, you know? Everyone including Feldman's wife played their "role" to the hilt. I wanted more reality.
I_Heart_Matthew__Guest_: Hi Matthew! Have you been enjoying Swingtown? I can't seem to get enough of that show...
Matthew_Gilbert: That's because you're a prevert.
Matthew_Gilbert: No, just kidding. I'm kinda fond of it too, even while I think it's kind of flat. LOVE Molly Parker.
Matthew_Gilbert: I wish it were on cable. It could have been like Big Love.
Greg56__Guest_: Hi Matthew, I haven't heard much about "Rescue Me" or "Damages" this year. The FX site doesn't say much, if anything about the new season. Are they coming back and if so have you heard when?
Matthew_Gilbert: Rescue Me won't be back in full until April of next year, because of the writers strike. But the show is running weekly "minisodes" -- 5 minute episodes -- every Tuesday night for the next 10 weeks.
Matthew_Gilbert: Damages will be back, I'm not sure when. But William Hurt is on board this season, which should make it interesting. Glenn Close and Hurt worked together many moons ago on the Big Chill.
k__Guest_: What's with the talk of an actors strike? Did they not learn anything from the writers strike?
Matthew_Gilbert: Come on, actors deserve to make more money.
Matthew_Gilbert: Especially Katherine Heigl.
Matthew_Gilbert: Yes, snark.
deadliestcatchlover__Guest_: I really LOVE the show deadliest catch better than anything else on T.V. right now, i feel like I can watch it with my kids and still get entertained, what do you think of the show?
Matthew_Gilbert: I've seen it, and admired it, but I don't keep up with it. But I regularly hear from people who are fans of the show, and it's a hit for Discovery.
Matches_Malone__Guest_: Have you heard or seen anything about "Sons of Anarchy?" What is that all about?
Matthew_Gilbert: I'm really looking forward to it. I think it's due in September, with The Shield, on FX. It's about a motorcycle gang, which sounds right for FX. Charlie Hunam, a Brit who was in "Undeclared," is starring, and he's pretty good.
jendi__Guest_: Can we have a Mad Men countdown?
Matthew_Gilbert: I know. I'm really excited. And yet anxious, too, as the show become a PHENOMENON. Please be good. It's back on July 27, on Sundays this time around.
jmbjmb__Guest_: Hi Matthew... What are the chances of Jericho living another day and showing up on TV someplace in the near future?
Matthew_Gilbert: I gather CBS is going to be offering free psychological advice.
k__Guest_: Is project runway changing networks mid-season? I'm confused...
Matthew_Gilbert: The show is indeed jumping from Bravo to Lifetime.
Matthew_Gilbert: But I think -- and I'm not sure, but can check later if you want to email me -- that it still has one more season to go on Bravo.
amarose255__Guest_: I know reality TV is here to stay. I like shows where the participants have a talent (Top Chef, Project Runway), but are there really enough people watching trash like Tila Tequila and The Kardashians? I don't understand their popularity. They're boring as heck, and the lead characters have absolutely no talent whatsoever. Will they end anytime soon? Thanks.
Matthew_Gilbert: The Tila Tequila-type stuff does quite well, considering the fact that it's very inexpensive to make and it airs on niche channels that don't expect big viewerships. Tila Tequila, it's just so ridiculous that some people love to laugh at it.
Fat_Faced_Rick__Guest_: Any news on that David Milch 70's cop drama? Also does David Chase have anything in the works?
Matthew_Gilbert: I believe Milch is still working on that 70s cop show for HBO... Chase is onto the movies, though not a Sopranos movie -- yet.
lostfan789__Guest_: Have you been yearning for Lost yet? Still 6 months to go!
Matthew_Gilbert: I know. It's painful to think about it.
k__Guest_: It's not a chat of yours without a mention of LOST LOST LOST LOST LOST
Matthew_Gilbert: Yes, say it loud and say it proud, k.
Matthew_Gilbert: It's still gone for 6 months.
rachjak__Guest_: I love to laugh at Idol and Survivor.
Matthew_Gilbert: And the producers of those shows love laughing right back at ya, rach.
lostfan789__Guest_: what did you think of the new japanese based game shows?
Matthew_Gilbert: I have about 10 minutes of laughs in me, before I'm ready to move on. But the premieres were very popular -- Wipeout drew over 9 milion, and Japanese only slightly less. That's not bad for an early summer patch.
Matthew_Gilbert: There's a good piece in the NY Times today about summer TV, and how it is belonging to the cable channels more than ever. The trend of cable channels premiering popular series in the summer, while the nets lose viewers to repeats and to reality shows, is contining apace.
Matthew_Gilbert: The Closer is a huge hit for TNT.
Matthew_Gilbert: Weeds, Saving Grace, Burn Notice, etc... They're starting to define summer TV.
lostfan789__Guest_: besides lost, which show are you most looking forward to seeing again?
Matthew_Gilbert: Mad Men.
Elan__Guest_: Hi Matthew, Any idea when Breaking Bad starts up again?
Matthew_Gilbert: I don't know when, but I do know that AMC is making 13 episodes this time around, instead of the measly 7 of the first season.
Matthew_Gilbert: I had mixed feelings about the series -- a suburban dad with cancer dealing crystal meth? -- but I watched in nevertheless. I want to see how they develop the show when it returns.
tvguide__Guest_: When is HOUSE coming back?
Matthew_Gilbert: In the fall.
Matthew_Gilbert: But Fox will continue to air repeats ad infinitum. For some reason, House repeats do better than most drama reairings. Maybe that's because, while there are ongoing plots, each episode is pretty self-contained, like CSI and Law and Order, which also repeat well.
rachjak__Guest_: Amen. A show with a writer and characters and period sense. It won't last.
Matthew_Gilbert: Mad Men? I think it will last for 5-6 seasons, if Matthew Wiener can avoid sophomore slump and solidify viewership this summer.
lost__Guest_: Do you think Heigl wrote to push the writers to write her off the show so she can pursue movies full time?
Matthew_Gilbert: I don't think Heigl's insults to the writers of Grey's were deployed to get her anything. I think they were the musings of a vain, self-absorbed starlet.
Matches_Malone__Guest_: Good Afternoon Matthew! What do you know about the new show "Flash Point?"
Matthew_Gilbert: I haven't seen the pilot yet -- it premieres next month. All I know is SWAT team, high-tech, and Julie from Felicity.
lostfan789__Guest_: Heigl annoys me more than any other actress out there
Matthew_Gilbert: I think I have to agree with you. And that's saying a lot, because I get annoyed at celebs frequently.
Larry_Seller__Guest_: Is Fox still planning on playing a few episodes of 24 in October?
Matthew_Gilbert: Fox is airing a two-hour movie in the fall. And then an entire season -- I believe a full 24 episodes -- beginning in January. The show will jump ahead a few years -- that's all the vogue these days.
Rufus__Guest_: Katherine Heigl is the finest actress in television since Pat Priest.
Matthew_Gilbert: Laughing... laughing...
Matthew_Gilbert: Marilyn on the Munsters.
lostfan789__Guest_: when do emmy noms come out and have you heard any buzz about lost?
Matthew_Gilbert: Noms arrive on July 17. I'm thinking/hoping the show will get a nom for best drama -- everyone seems to agree that the show has had one of its best seasons so far. And I personally hope Michael Emerson gets a nod. He's amazing as Ben Linus. Good guy? Bad guy? Eye guy?
rachjak__Guest_: Mathew? Have you watched the second season of This American Life? When Ira Glass is not in the frame, it's a powerful little exercise.
Matthew_Gilbert: I confess, I haven't seen any of season two. I still listen to the radio show, though. And yeah, Glass can get in the way, both on TV and on the radio. Still, he's the guy who seems to make it all work.
rachjak__Guest_: Munsters repeats well.
Matthew_Gilbert: Grandpa, RIP.
lostfan789__Guest_: is ellen really the best talk show host out there?
Matthew_Gilbert: I kinda think so. She certainly beats the View ladies, and Regis and Kelly. She has really created a nice little place for herself. Pleasant, wry, mocking, self-mocking. I likes her a lot.
Matthew_Gilbert: Her interviews with John McCain and with Jenna and Laura Bush were amusing. Just watching her face is fun. I loved it when she asked McCain to walk her down the aisle.
Matthew_Gilbert: Get ready for Ellen and Portia Media Overload, by the way.
Matthew_Gilbert: Folks, thanks for showing up. See you in a couple of weeks. MG
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