As regular readers of theTVaddict.com may-or-may-not have noticed, we’ve been pretty prolific about adding new features to the site this year. Yet despite the additions of our awesome new contributor Tiffany Vogt, our ‘Monday Cheat Sheet’ and Friday ‘Week in Rewind’, one thing still remains: A weekly ‘Ask the Addict’ Column. Which is precisely where you, the far smarter and better looking reader comes in. Got a TV related question of query? Post away in the comments below and check back on Thursday for the answer. 
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TRUE BLOOD rocks PaleyFest 2011 with teasers, spoilers and a sneak peek at Season 4
PaleyFest 2011 honored the HBO smash-sensation TRUE BLOOD on Saturday night at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills. With a line round the block and the entire auditorium brimming at the seams, fans excitedly awaited a glimpse of the stars and hoped for some inside scoop on what to expect when the series returns next summer.
While the notoriously tight-lipped cast were careful not to rouse any ire from their watchful executive producer Alan Ball, it was clear that everyone had a great time teasing what they would like to see, hinting about what is upcoming next season, and sharing a bit about what they love about the show.
With loud applause and ear-splitting screams to greet the sexy cast, sixteen cast members and Alan Ball arrived on stage to start the up-roaring evening. Besides creator/producer Alan Ball, in attendance was: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsgard, Rutina Wesley, Sam Trammell, Marshall Allman, Ryan Kwanten, Chris Bauer, Carrie Preston, Todd Lowe, Jim Parrack, Deborah Ann Woll, Nelsan Ellis, Kevin Alejandro, Kristin Bauer van Staten, and Joe Manganiello.
With such a large number of cast on stage, questions tended to invoke a lot of good-spirited, teasing and fan-baiting to see how the audience would react.
FRINGE: A Tale of Three Broken Lives
In FRINGE’s most recent episode “Subject 13,” the final layer was peeled back revealing a horror story of a different kind. In the earlier episode “Reciprocity,” the kaleidoscope shifted and we saw a side of Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) that we never envisioned existed: Peter, the killer — an assassin searching for clues. Then, in “Subject 13,” we discovered perhaps the root of Peter’s villainy: he learned from the best villain of all — his surrogate father, Walter Bishop (John Noble).
We have always wondered what was so dangerous that Walter had William Bell (Leonard Nimoy) remove a portion of his brain and hide it. It was not just that Walter discovered an alternate dimension, nor that Walter figured out how to cross-over into that dimension, it was the depths of Walter’s own evilness.
In “Subject 13,” we discovered that Walter was not just a brilliant scientist, befuddled and well-meaning — he had a dark side — a side that was so ruthless that he returned a young child to an abusive environment so that she would continue to experience heightened fear and emotion — the magic ingredients that enabled her to crossover to the other side. Walter was so intrigued and enthralled with the idea that Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) as a child could seamlessly cross over into the alternate universe that he willingly turned a blind-eye to the violence she was suffering at the hands of her stepfather to further his own research.
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Why You Shouldn’t Fall in Love With TV Pilots Before They Hatch!
Every year Hollywood touts the next big thing and regales us with tantalizing teases — it is called the television “pilot” season. Beginning in January and continuing into early May, we hear some of the biggest names in the business being cast in upcoming television shows. There is the flush of excitement and rush to broadcast every juicy tid-bit of who will be co-starring and how much money was spent on each of the shows. Yet there is a dark-side to the glossy glamour being painted across the industry news pages — many, if not nearly all of these hotly anticipated shows will never air.
Pilot season is merely a testing ground to see if any of the pitched ideas are worthy of spending obscene amounts of money so that the show can air on broadcast television. It is like inviting a hundred beautiful girls to a debutante ball, parading them through dress shops, dressing them up to the gills in ribbons and lace and then one by one determining if any are worthy of going to the ball. In the end, perhaps half-a-dozen are chosen.
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The Elusive Quest for Justice: The lessons of HARRY’S LAW
Nobody presents a simultaneous mind-bending and heart-wrenching legal drama better than David E. Kelley. Hailing from his inaugural days on L.A. LAW, through the Emmy winning years of PICKET FENCES, and sailing right on through several decades with THE PRACTICE, ALLY MCBEAL and BOSTON LEGAL, if there was a legal conundrum to be explored, Kelley made sure to highlight it.
In his latest television creation, HARRY’S LAW, starring Kathy Bates as Harriett Korn, a burnt-out attorney seeking a second chance, Kelley has created yet another confection of legal misfits who bring justice into the lives of their clients and are rewarded with a bit of magic in their own lives. Adding to Harry’s firm is the bubbly assistant Jenna Backstrom (Brittany Snow), gentle-spirited attorney Adam Branch (Nathan Corddry), and savvy legal assistant Malcolm Davies (Aml Ameen).
After Harriett is brusquely dispatched by her former firm after being caught with an illegal substance at work, she sets up shop in a run-down, seedy neighborhood in an abandoned shoe shop. It is not the most auspicious start to the new chapter of her legal career, but with a steady supply of legal cases walking in the door from the neighborhood and the added complications of representing the neighborhood enforcer Damien Winslow (Johnny Ray Gill), Harriett’s practice takes off. She represents a young man facing a third-strike for narcotics possession, an elderly woman charged with armed robbery whose defense was that she was starving to death, an innocent man refusing to plead guilty just to get parole, faced disbarment for proclaiming another client guilty before a jury, and agreed to mediate between two rival gangs intent on killing each other.
Attention GetGlue, Philo, Miso and IntoNow… Check This!
If you’re anything like this TV Addict, odds are fairly certain that since reading Tiffany Vogt’s fantastic piece from earlier in the day in which she pulled back the curtain on the 16,000 or so Nielsen families whose viewing habits play far too an integral role in dictating what shows remains on the air, you’ve been asking yourself one simple question: How do I become a Nielsen Family? Is there not a better way?
What’s more, how is it that the Network and Cable companies have continued to allow Nielsen — an antiquated service that seems inexplicably adverse to changing with the times — a monopoly when it comes to measuring who watches television when.
The Nielsen Conundrum: Why An Entire Nation of TV Addicts Are Being Held Hostage By 16,000 Viewers
If you are a television viewer today, you probably have scratched your head in bewilderment at how television ratings are determined. Simply put, there are an estimated 16,000 viewers that have Nielsen black boxes, and those 16,000 people are determining what the rest of us are allowed to watch on television.
Essentially, if you are not one of the privileged few with a Nielsen black box, then you are simply a calculated-statistic based on the viewing patterns of one of those 16,000 who may be in the same age group as you – regardless of the fact that you may have better taste in television shows.
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V-Cap: Hell Hath No Fury Like An Erica Evans Scorned
While everyone else is still probably trying to wrap their head around the reveal of Alt-Olivia’s pregnancy on FRINGE and the scorching hot confrontation between Kalinda and Blake on THE GOOD WIFE, for fans who tuned in to see this week’s V, they got a lot more than they bargained for. The entire episode was an octane-fueled, adrenaline rush. It was also so explosive that it ripped wide-open the war against the Visitors.
On a sad note, in the end three significant lives were lost in this week’s hostage standoff. Anna had strategically manipulated everything in an attempt to kill the Fifth Column’s leader, Eli Cohn, as well as Erica Evans and her ex-husband Joe; and once the dust settled, adding to the death toll were Ryan Nichols, Eli Cohn and Joe Evans – with only Erica surviving the lethal confrontation. It was a blood-bath for the human resistance losing a Fifth Column leader, their inside man amongst the Visitors, and Erica’s ex-husband with whom she had reconciled to keep their son Tyler out of Anna’s evil clutches.
For a series that has been loathe to kill-off principal characters, it has taken a turn towards making everyone expendable. Now no one is safe.
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A Delightful Surprise: The Intersection of HELLCATS and Plato
In last week’s episode of HELLCATS “Remember When” (written by James Eagan), the show highlighted a powerful message by tapping into a particularly haunting quote from the ancient philosopher Plato. The quote was so unexpected that I actually had to re-watch the entire scene to fully appreciate how beautifully the quote was used.
HELLCATS is a show about competitive cheerleading, and most recently how the demands of maintaining a scholarship has put Marti Perkins (Aly Michalka) at odds with her law school studies and her efforts to free a man currently on death row. In “Remember When,” in order to convince Marti to bury an incriminating DVD implicating the school’s star quarterback in the crime that put another man in prison – a move that would destroy simultaneously the school’s football program and cheerleading program, thereby putting everyone’s scholarships in danger — the Hellcats cheerleaders shared their stories of what motivated each of them to become competitive cheerleaders.
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Ranking the Loneliest Hearts on Television
For those who saw this week’s episode of GLEE, aptly entitled “Silly Love Songs,” we were all cheering for Rachel Berry and her beau Finn Hudson to reconcile. Alas, as foreshadowed by fellow single-lady Mercedes, all the great divas only make it big after their hearts have been broken. Despite this apropos declaration, we hoped against hope that Rachel and Finn would have a chance — after all, they were the poster-child of love that the fans were rooting for since day one. That Finn chose his ex-girlfriend Quinn stung; especially after he confessed that there had never been fireworks when he kissed Rachel. In the end, as Rachel defiantly sang “Firework,” it was our hearts that felt crushed.
Another young love that we had been rooting for was Alex and Thom on NIKITA. Alas, their star-crossed love affair ended all too abruptly when Alex was forced to kill Thom in order to protect her cover inside Division. All season long the tenderhearted Thom had watched over and protected Alex, and then once he discovered her betrayal, he forsook his feelings and tried to unmask her treachery. His loyalty to Division was only noble in his ignorance. If he had truly known who he was aligned with, he would not have been so quick to try to kill Alex. So their budding romance was cut-short and we will never know if Alex and Thom could have been destined to enjoy a great love. We would have loved to watch it play out.