Until the last minute twist that revealed who is about to be a mommy, last night’s season premiere of GOSSIP GIRL was… well, nothing much to talk about. Serena’s Hollywood job is a snore, thanks in large part to the boring folks cast to play the various cliches and stereotypes surrounding her. Chuck deciding to say “yes” to everything would be a great development… if we’d ever thought of his as someone to deny himself anything. Nate continued to flounder in storyline limbo, sleeping with yet another older woman. (Does this guy need therapy to deal with his mommy issues?) And, of course, Blair whined. About what this week? Well, let’s see. She whined about every detail regarding her royal wedding and, most ludicrously, she whined about not be allowed to attend some royals-only speech. That’s right, she’s upset about not being able to attend a speech. There was, of course, a party, as is required of every episode. I imagine that in the writer’s room, the first thing they discuss each week is what the party-of-the-week will be and how it will turn into a disaster. The only real surprise at this particular party was that the pool around which it took place did not have anyone shoved into it. Things finally perked up in the final moments with Chuck’s bruise, Blair’s secret and Serena’s run-in with the chick who pretended to be her cousin last year, so hopefully, next week’s outing will be more juicy.
I almost didn’t check out the new sitcom WHITNEY because it got some pretty awful reviews. And yet, having finally gotten around to watching, I can’t for the life of me figure out why. The cast was largely appealing and the pilot, while not the best thing ever, was a heck of a lot better than some of the new sitcoms hitting the airwaves this year. (Yes, I’m lookin’ at you HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN.) By the end of the episode, I’d rearranged my taping schedule, having decided that WHITNEY is a keeper.
I’d really hoped that going into this season knowing it would be their last, the folks at DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES would pull out all the stops. Unfortunately, the season premiere was okay, but nothing out of the ordinary. And what the heck does poor Vanessa Williams have to do to get out of storyline Siberia? Once again, the ladies of Wisteria Lane were caught up in a story that brought them all together… except for poor Wilhelmina-lite, who was stuck with nothing to do but vamp it up for the new guy on the street who was, of course, introduced in the tried-and-true fashion of walking up behind people who are talking about him. Sigh. And can anyone explain why rich folks like him keep moving into the same middle-class neighborhood as barely-getting-by Mike and Susan or often-struggling Tom and Lynette? This has bothered me since back in the day when we were supposed to believe that Carlos and Gaby were way-uppermiddle class yet opted to shove all their uber-expensive tchotchkes into a house next to single-mom Susan.
Monday marked the official beginning of DAYS OF OUR LIVES’ much-ballyhooed reboot. Longtime fans had to have been thrilled to see formerly-exiled faves John and Marlena return, and the whole episode was like a tribute to better times. In a downright brilliant move, the show unleashed a weeks-long advertising blitz to let people know that things were getting back on track and, even smarter, kicked things off on the first day that it would no longer have ALL MY CHILDREN (sob!) as a time-slot competitor. It’s a little too early to declare that happy DAYS are back again, but we having been this excited about a retooling since GENERAL HOSPITAL booted Bob Guza and brought in Garin Wolf. As they say, stay tuned, because we’ll be keeping our eye on the show and letting you know how it’s looking!
