Small Screen Stakeout: January 22, 2010 (Episode 2)
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This week on Small Screen Stakeout, Lori and I cover the JFK conspiracy on Bones, Better Off Ted’s bagel-throwing contest, the latest American Idol auditions, Sarah Paulson’s terrific performance on last week’s Law and Order: SVU, the Samantha Bee/sexual harassment episode of the last Law and Order, Callie and Arizona’s “hot” makeout session on Grey’s Anatomy, the flashbacks on The Office, and the premiere of the new ABC legal drama The Deep End — which needs a lot more depth. Plus, Defying Gravity, Caprica, and Sofia Vergara on Ellen.
The web series we’re discussing this week is last summer’s high-profile web series Foreign Body, a 50-episode prequel leading up to the release of Robin Cook’s new medical thriller of the same name.
Here’s a compilation of the first four episodes (they’re only two minutes long each). If you’re a glutton for punishment, you can watch the rest of the episodes on the series’ official site.
To say Foreign Body is a parade of sexist and cultural stereotypes is an understatement — not to mention the plot is confusing and the acting sub-par. It’s all especially appalling when you consider that it was backed by Michael Eisner, sponsored by Honda, and cost $10,000 an episode to make. But more about that in the podcast!
Add your thoughts on this and the rest of this week’s topics in the comments.
Sofia Vergara is not a grandmother, but she is a mother to an 18 year old boy.
Just an FYI… it DOES work in iTunes. You just need to copy the link, go to Advanced -> Subscribe to Podcast in your iTunes and it’ll start downloading the ones you have.
It actually isn’t necessary to do a special rss file for iTunes, this works quite well… at least it does for me since I’m now listening via iTunes!
Much of what’s going on with Izzie Stevens on-screen is due to Katherine Heigl’s schedule off-screen. When they first started taping this season, Heigl made some late night appearances and bemoaned the hours she was having to work (she called them “cruel and mean”). What she left out, of course, was that the shooting schedule had been adjusted to accommodate her film schedule…a fact that the studio was all to willing to leak to TV bloggers.
In addition to her film schedule, Heigl took a maternity leave this season to spend some time with her newly adopted daughter.
At any rate, Michael Ausiello reported last week that Heigl’s under-contract with Grey’s Anatomy for another season but that he expected Shondra Rhimes to cut her loose.
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I wasn’t that impressed with “The Deep End” either. You’re right in noting that the show’s premise didn’t feel original. “Defying Gravity” might have been misrepresented as a Grey’s-Anatomy-in-space, but “The Deep End” certainly has that legal Grey’s Anatomy feel to it. I thought they could’ve spent more time letting us get to know Jack McAllister…uh, I mean, Matt Long’s character…like Grey’s did with Meredith in its opening episodes.
I’ll give it another shot this week–if only for Nicole Ari Parker–but, honestly, I don’t expect the show to be around much longer.
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At some point, once the first season of Venice is over, I may take some time to watch it but, nothing about the first episode made it must-see television. It just doesn’t feel organic to me. I’m actually more interested in hearing, given your backgrounds, what you think of the business model. It’s the first web series I’ve heard of utilizing this subscription model ($9.99 for the first season) and I’m curious if you think of it. Do you think it’s a path that other web series should follow?
Also, if you’re looking for additional web series to review, I recommend checking out the nominees for the Indie Soap Awards: http://indiesoapawards.com/
The RSS feed has two entries in it, but both entries link to the same MP3 file (/podcasts/stakeout-1.mp3). That doesn’t look right.