Showtime's Spoiler Problem

Showtime isn't HBO, not by a long shot, but they really want to be. There's one thing they could be doing that would bring them closer to their goal, and that's not spoiling their shows before they air.

Showtime has fantastic programming, shows like "House of Lies," "Penny Dreadful," "Ray Donovan," "HAPPYish," "Nurse Jackie," "Shameless," and my favorite, "Episodes," just to name a few. The problem is that seconds before the airing of a new episode, Showtime gives you about ten seconds of highlights of the episode you are about to see, usually revealing major plot points and twists of said episode.

WTF Showtime? I'll speak to you directly now.

You do understand, Showtime, we are already tuned in, or recording via DVR, we intend to watch - there's no need to entice us to watch. We're already there. All this plot revealing preview does is ruin the show for us. Sometimes there's no point in watching after these spoiler previews. See, this is hurting you, and ruining your hard-paid-for programming for you.

Is the point that you don't want us to watch? If so, you're starting to succeed. Stop it, just stop it.

New Moon

New Moon ~ Unofficially called The Twilight Saga: New Moon for the folks too dim to realize it was a sequel to Twilight, happily the actual credits of this film read just New Moon. Remember back in the day we didn’t have to be reminded what we were watching? We know a James Bond movie without having to see his name in the title. I wish this kind of nonsense would stop, and yes, I blame you, George Lucas, for starting it.

Let me start by saying that New Moon is no Twilight. I was quite surprised by the first movie despite the hype both good and bad, and liked it quite a bit. The sequel is a serious drop in quality of story and character development – a true disappointment. After the first flick I was ready to read the novels, and after this one, I think I’ll pass. New Moon is the kind of crap I expected when I first watched Twilight. It’s emo, it’s melodrama, it’s just bad.

When vampire Edward pushes our heroine Bella away, she becomes closer to werewolf Jacob. It is literally gothic romance meets afterschool special with some horror undertones. The flick gets a bit disturbing when Bella starts taking dangerous risks and Edward seems to be psychically stalking her ever step. Creepy. It does get mildly exciting toward the end when Bella encounters the Voltari, the masters of the vampire world, but it’s far too little, far too late.

This movie was hard enough to get through without the douchebag factor, which ruined a couple scenes for me. Peter Facinelli plays Dr. Carlisle Cullen, a fact that meant nothing when I saw Twilight. Since then I have become acquainted with him as the obnoxious Twittering doctor on “Nurse Jackie,” and now I just can’t take him seriously whenever he’s on screen. I kept expecting him to start texting or to say something stupid, rather than be the wise patriarch of the vampire family.

Maybe some of that dark “Nurse Jackie” humor might have helped though. This dreary thing barely held my attention and was difficult to sit all the way through. Give New Moon a pass.

Best of 2009

My top ten films that I’ve seen this year that came out this year would be, in no particular order - Timecrimes, District 9, (500) Days of Summer, The Princess and the Frog, Moon, Wonder Woman, Inglourious Basterds, and my top three - Ponyo, Watchmen and Star Trek.

On television, “Glee” tops my card, quickly followed by Showtime’s “Nurse Jackie” and a startling season of “Dexter.” Other highlights would include the “Seinfeld” reunion on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” the spoiled children of “Big Brother 10” and of course the “Doctor Who” specials.

Musically there’s no question that 2009 was the year of Lady GaGa. And I think that’s only the beginning. Even if she’s a four-hit wonder, her performances and music, as well as her interviews are stunning. She is a force to be reckoned with for many years to come.

On the interwebs, props must go to Marvel Comics for their amazing motion comics of Astonishing X-Men and especially Spider-Woman: Agent of S.W.O.R.D.

Now bring on 2010!

Nurse Jackie, Nurse Jackie

It’s been a couple weeks since the season finale of Showtime’s brilliant “Nurse Jackie,” and something has been bugging me about the ending/cliffhanger. I finally realized what it is. It’s “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.”

The popular but only one season long series created by Norman Lear and starring Louise Lasser ended with the star in the nuthouse, rocking back and forth, repeating her name over and over just like the title of the show, "Mary Hartman... Mary Hartman... Mary Hartman... Mary Hartman..."

What is significant is that none of the dangling plotlines or cliffhangers were ever really resolved. Yes, the series was revisited, without Lasser or her title character, a year later with much the same cast in less popular “Forever Fernwood,” but as I said, much was left unresolved.

This is why I’m worried about “Nurse Jackie.” Things came crashing in, conflicts came to a head, the lead character’s life literally hit a dead end. Will her drug induced state send her into a coma from which she’ll emerge later with no repercussions? I hope not. Time will tell. Either way I’m glad such an amazing show has been renewed. Let’s hope Edie Falco fares better than Louise Lasser.

Nurse Jackie

Showtime has been promoting this for a long time and it finally premiered last night. For the most part, “Nurse Jackie” lived up to the hype.

Edie Falco is no-nonsense, pill-popping, adulterous, know-it-all nurse Jackie Peyton as she fights her way through work at a New York City hospital. She deftly shows off that quirky dark comedic side we all knew was lurking beneath Carmela Soprano and was easily the star last night. She’s mean and abrasive, but I found myself rooting for her.

The dark and sarcastic tone of the show bothered me only because I frequent hospitals due to some health issues. I really don’t want to think of my doctors and nurses doing drugs, having sex and being otherwise apathetic while they are supposed to be caring for me – even though I know it happens. It does make for an entertaining show however.

I think the main problem with the show though is that everything outside of Falco was interchangeable with any run of the mill episode of “ER” or “St. Elsewhere,” only the main character stood out as unique and exciting. While I found (and surely will continue to find) Edie Falco amazing in this role, it will be a test of the actress’ abilities how well this series goes.

It’s dark, it’s silly, it’s got some clever twists and Falco is great. For the moment, I enjoyed last night’s episode and I’m along for the ride.


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