TV Potpourri: 'Gossip,' 'Runway' and 'Daisies'! Oh my!

Catch up on the latest and greatest in TV this week ... It's TV Potpourri! Mmm, springtime fresh!

“Look who’s coming?”
“Gossip Girl” — Looks like Georgina is heading back to the upper eastside. Michelle Trachtenberg will be back as the manipulative ice queen later this season. Also, calling all hotties? “GG” is prowling the streets — er, modeling studios — looking for a cousin for Nate.

The yet-to-be-cast character is in his 20s and described as wealthy (duh!), confident (shocker!), politically minded (OK, you got me there) and extremely good-looking (yahoo!).

Cousin Kip Vanderbilt — yes, dead serious, that’s his name — will be arriving sometime this season. And sorry Queen B, this one’s married. Hmm, actually that probably wouldn’t stop you.

“Make it work”
“Project Runway” — Good news! It seems production for the sixth season of “PR” is moving right along. OK, so they still don’t know when, and er, where it will air but c’mon people, they’re filming! Woo! Papa Tim Gunn told New York Magazine that “Project Runway” will be filming at crème de la crème Fashion Week on Feb. 20.

Thanks Papa Gunn for giving us a reason to believe they’re “making it work.”

“Inauguration Station”
Can’t afford a trip to Washington, D.C. for the big inauguration? No problem.
The Disney-ABC Television Group will broadcast two presidential inaugural events — “Kids Inaugural: We Are the Future” on Jan. 19, a 90-minute concert in Washington (OMG! I hope the Jonas Bros. will be there! … ugh) and “Neighborhood Inaugural Ball,” on Jan. 20, President-elect Barack Obama’s first stop as Hottie in Chief, er, I mean, Commander in Chief.

“Paid for Sex in ‘The City?’”
"The City" — If you’ve been watching “The Hills” spin-off “The City,” well first of all, you’re like me and are a cheap sell for pretty people and drama-rama, but secondly, you probably have crafted an opinion of one Mr. Nevan Donahue. (Seriously, what kind of name is that? Rich people, who gets ‘em?)

The cousin of Blair-Waldorf-wanna-be Olivia Palermo (who’s a whole ‘nother issue) is in more heat than just his latest ranting about a fine for spitting on a subway. (Talk about Richie Rich giving it to the lower class.)

According to the NY Post: According to the clerk at the Palm Beach Courthouse, Donahue, 28, has a warrant out for his arrest for failing to meet terms of his probation after he was busted last year for trying to pick up a prostitute. Donahue was given probation and told to complete 75 hours of community service after his initial arrest. A warrant was put out for Donahue’s arrest after he failed to put in the hours.

Really? Him? Even sidestepping the obvious, um, seriously? Let’s see if his art dealer father can get him out of this one.

“Pushing Heroes with Daisies?”
OK, not really — the sheer physics of that is near impossible, but point being Swoosie Kurtz is reuniting with her former “Daisies” boss, Bryan Fuller, on “Heroes,” according to the Ausiello Files.

The actress will guest star in an April episode of “Heroes”, written by Fuller, himself.

Last words …
The 66th annual Golden Globe Awards air Sunday night and “American Idol” returns next week. Do we care? Meh, not really.

-- Sara Boyd, sboyd2@greenbaypressgazette.com

Nothing we can do ... a total eclipse of "Heroes"

"Heroes" creator Tim Kring recently came under fire for describing his viewers as "saps" -- a comment he later apologized for -- but we're not sure he's that far from the truth.

After a devastatingly lame second season, it appeared that "Heroes" was back on the rise with its newest volume "Villains." Yes, we even waxed poetic about the season's promise here.

But watching the two part "Eclipse" episode that was billed AS THE GREATEST THING EVER, we felt like... well... saps. Here's why Channel Surfing bloggers Adam Reinhard and Malavika Jagannathan have jumped off the "Heroes" bandwagon.

Eclipse, Schmeclipse

Malavika: First of all, not to get all Bill Nye on you, Tim Kring, but your last solar eclipse was like, what, a year ago? Although NASA's Eclipse Web Site does indicate there are annual total solar eclipses, what are the chances of there being clear sky both times? Not to mention that eclipses generally last about 2 minutes at their greatest point. Your eclipse was like half an hour long! I get that your characters are superheroes with powers and stuff, but at least fact-check your natural phenomena!

Second, there was no point to the eclipse. The premise was interesting -- the eclipse renders all our superheroes powerless, susceptible to mortal things like bullets and stuff. Oooh-kay. For two episodes, they prance around like humans and get hurt. Then, poof, the eclipse is over and everything is back to superhero normal. Everyone on the verge of death is brought back miraculously and viewers are left going "wha?"

Maybe I'm just old-fashioned and "sappy" in my viewing habits, but stories need arcs -- even the ones with numerous sideplots. If the search for the two halves of the formula, supposedly the most dangerous thing EVER -- as suggested in the first few episodes -- why has that taken a backburner to everything else? What happened to the careful peeling back of the layers that made "Heroes" so intriguing in its first season? Gone. And so am I. After weeks of thinking "maybe it'll get better next week," I've given up on this show and I'm OK with that decision.

One caveat: There's been some buzz that Wil Wheaton (Gordie of "Stand By Me" fame and to us nerds, Wesley Crusher from "Star Trek: The Next Generation") might make a guest appearance on the show. If this is true, I'll make an exception to my rule.

Heroes and villains, just see what you've done...

Adam: The complaint I've heard the most about this show, and the reason many have abandoned it like the sinking, malaria-ridden ship it is, was its absolute refusal to give the audience some credit. Week in and week out, "Heroes" has treated us like imbeciles, and for a while I was willing to go along. It was entertaining enough, I liked the characters, and it was funny when that Japanese dude's cheeks shook.

But you've insulted my intelligence for the last time, Kring! (Doesn't "Kring" sound like a great name for a villain, by the way? I can just hear it being vengefully bellowed by a bested superhero: "KRRRIIIIIIINNNGGG!!!") There were so many laughable leaps of logic in Monday's episode, it made my IQ hurt.

- HRG had Sylar and Elle in his rifle's sight at the end of last week's episode ... but waits to shoot them until AFTER they do the nasty.

- After helping save the people of Haiti by defeating the Haitian's warlord brother, Nathan does EXACTLY WHAT HE SAID HE WOULDN'T DO, and decides to help his father.

- A shot and dying Claire is taken to the hospital by her mother, who is questioned by a suspicious nurse. The cops show up and stunningly fail to grill mommy about why her daughter has a bullet wound in her chest.

- After helping Elle get away from psycho pervert HRG, Sylar decides, whoops, he's evil after all, and kills her. Elle, apparently deciding, oh well, guess that's it for me, just lays there without so much as a scream.

- Like Malavika said, THE ECLIPSE LASTED HOURS. What, did the moon just decide to stop orbiting?

But like I said, I could forgive all of that if the damn thing had entertained me. But it didn't. End of story. Sorry, "Heroes," you've earned your fate, be it cancellation or the dustbin of the Nielsens. You'll get no more hours of my life, nor any more points off my IQ.

--Malavika Jagannathan, mjaganna@greenbaypressgazette.com, Adam Reinhard, areinhard@greenbaypressgazette.com

Commercial Interruption: What's going on with 'Heroes'? It's actually ... good?

Sometimes there's just too much television for one Channel Surfing blogger to handle. That's when we need a break to sit back, relax and indulge in some friendly back-and-forth (via email of course -- we don't actually like to speak to one another in person). Bloggers Adam Reinhard and Malavika Jagannathan discuss "Heroes" and the strange, giddy glee the third season has been giving them so far ... a feeling that's almost the exact opposite of getting run through with a sword.

Adam: As much as I hated "Heroes" last season, that's how much I'm digging it this season. And it's not because the writing has improved, or the storylines, or the visual effects ... because those things are basically as weak as ever. No, "Heroes" is simply kicking ass and taking names this season, and the unexpected rush has been exhilarating.

The subtitle to this season, "Villains," has already started paying dividends in surprising ways, mainly by playing with the idea of who is good and who is bad. For example, take Sylar, the show's main baddie. In the course of only five episodes, he has removed the top of Claire's skull, killed another bad guy during a bank hold-up, partnered up with HRG to track down villains, then saved Claire from being sucked into a vortex. Oh, turns out he's also Peter and Nathan's brother. And a recent trip to the future saw him living quiet domestic life with a young son, but then going nuclear and taking out a whole city when his son is killed during a home invasion. So is Sylar a good guy now? Or merely lying in wait for the perfect opportunity to strike? Whatever the case, it's given new life to a previously one-note character.

Speaking of shaking up boring characters, the previously only-around-for-exposition Mohinder has gotten a kick in the pants after experimenting with a formula to create superpowers ... on himself. The results have given him super-strength and agility, but also creepy scales on his back, and apparently the ability to wrap people in spider webbing -- which, judging by the number of bodies in his lab, he quite enjoys doing. His claim that it's all in the name of finding a "cure" for Maya makes me think he's still basically a good guy -- because otherwise he would have killed that annoying twit by now.

Malavika, I seem to recall there was a particular character (and actor) from last night's episode you wanted to discuss.

Malavika: Before I get into my rantings and ravings about "Heroes," I need to point out that some of the fine actors from HBO's "The Wire" are finally getting some face time on network TV that they rightfully deserve.

In January, creator-writer-producer of "The Wire" David Simon lashed out at Hollywood for ignoring the actors (particularly the black actors) from this critically acclaimed show. Now we've got Amy Ryan on "The Office," Lance Reddick on "Lost" and "Fringe," and Tristan Wilds on "90210." Plus, as mentioned by fellow Channel Surfing blogger Tom Rozwadowski, Clarke Peters aka Lester Freamon of "The Wire" is enjoying a spot on ABC's "Life on Mars," which quite honestly made me actually want to watch that. (A cop show with Det. Lester Freamon? Sign me up!) It's a frickin' "Wire" lovefest out there.

I've got to give a shout-out to "Heroes" for grabbing not one but two other stars from that greatest of TV shows. Prior to last night's episode, I had already spotted Jamie Hector, previously seen on "The Wire" as up-and-coming kingpin Marlo Stanfield, with a key villain role. But I had to recreate the dance of joy when I recognized the vortex-creating fiend that nearly killed Claire last night on "Heroes" as none other than Andre Royo -- everyone's favorite junkie-informant, Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins! Even though his character seems to have, umm, been sucked into oblivion, his short run didn't seem as contrived as some of the other minor characters from seasons past (Moron Twins, anyone?) It doesn't get better than seeing a cleaned-up-but-still-conflicted Bubs getting vortexed into nowhere.

It's sad that the season premiere of "Heroes" only picked up 9.9 million viewers -- a sharp drop from last year -- and although DVR ratings may pull the show from Nielsen hell, "Heroes" fans shouldn't give up on the show because it's finally getting good again. I mean it. For all the reasons I picked on the show last season (the convoluted plots, the pointless characters), I'm beginning to appreciate the careful layering of plotlines and characters that seem to be falling into place as the show examines the thin grey line between good and bad. In a way, it's a lot like -- yup, you guessed it -- "The Wire."

When Hiro -- that goodest of the good guys -- stuck that sword into best friend Ando for the greater good (or bad?), I gasped out loud. Adam, where do you think they're going with this?

Adam: The shish-kabobbing of sidekick Ando was so sudden and so out of the blue that it literally had me in shock, and I was having trouble remembering the minutes that led up to it. I seem to recall Daphne the Speedster walking into the bar where Hiro and Ando were lamenting their misplacement of sneaky Adam Monroe, and offering to team up with them. Her partner -- whose name I don't think we've ever heard, but whose power is he grows stronger when people around him are afraid -- demands that Hiro kill Ando to prove his worth, and hands our intrepid time-stopper a sword. Hiro, his friendship with Ando already in question after teleporting into the future and seeing Future Ando kill Future Hiro -- seemingly doesn't hesitate. He apologizes to Ando, says sacrifices must be made in order to save the world, and then sticks the poor schmuck.

In the split second before it happened, I remember thinking, Well, he's going to stop time, grab Ando and run, or maybe figure out a way to only make it look like Ando died, blah blah blah. But no. As far as I can tell, ANDO. IS. DEAD. And if that's true, then my feelings for Hiro will have changed entirely. He'll no longer be the lovably bumbling goof who gets by almost purely on pluck and courage. Now he's going to be the guy who killed his best friend for the sole reason of hooking up with characters of questionable morals. And if that's true -- and by God I hope it's not -- then my whole feeling for the show will change. Because that's just mean, and not heroic at all.

Any last thoughts?

Malavika: As much as I enjoy the breathtaking array of characters who are introduced on any given episode, my complaint with "Heroes" is that occasionally they cross the line from ensemble casting to who-the-hell-is-that-again territory. Case in point: I completely forgot that the guy at the end who is apparently planting thoughts is actually Matt Parkman's father. I consider myself a smart person, but sometimes I need like a cheat sheet of characters to keep it straight, especially given that last season seemed to end so long ago.

But other than that, no complaints from me thus far. I'm just happy to feel like I can't wait another week to find out what happens next. I like the new shade of darkness that's enveloping everyone -- yes, even uber geek Hiro -- but I also hope they don't completely shift characters from one end of the spectrum to the other. I'm not sure I can handle that.

Oh, and Tim Kring, if you're reading this, feel free to cast Michael K. Williams (aka Omar Little, everyone's favorite gay stick-up artist from "The Wire"). Villain or hero, he's guaranteed to do it with style.

— Malavika Jagannathan, mjaganna@greenbaypressgazette.com, Adam Reinhard, areinhard@greenbaypressgazette.com

"Heroes" season 3: The Dark Blight

"Heroes" relaunches tonight for its third season — a fact that caught me off guard when I found out last week. After the catastrophic crappiness of last season, I suffered a bout of series-selective amnesia, and as such almost completely forgot that a show called "Heroes" ever existed. It took typing the word "amnesia" just now for me to even recall that lead hero Peter "I can crush a virus in my hand" Petrelli also suffered from some very convenient memory loss for most of that monumentally mundane season.

Ah yes, now the floodgates are open. I'm starting to remember much of what went down in that uberly unpleasant string of episodes. The virus the kills 96% of the world. Sylar trying to get his powers back. Kristen Bell as an electricity shooting baddie. The Wonder Twins who got a lot of cloying airtime before getting snuffed by Sylar. Hiro stuck in feudal Japan. That white guy posing as a Japanese guy who turned out to be immortal. Kristen Bell as an electricity shooting baddie. Nathan Petrelli getting assassinated. Niki dying in a fire or an explosion or an airline crash or something. Kristen Bell as an electricity shooting baddie.

It's safe to say my memory favors some parts over others. Overall, though, it was a tremendous squandering of the goodwill that the cast and series creator Tim Kring had built up in their astounding first season. Fans expecting the "Heroes" universe to expand and build upon itself instead got bland new characters and reheated plot lines. The writers strike and its dastardly effects on production didn't help, sure, but even if Kring and Co. rushed things a little in preparation for a work slowdown, their initial product should've been strong enough to withstand a little corner-cutting. It wasn't.

So now we get Season Three, which, in a bid to elicit a little excitement from the fanbase, is being dubbed "Heroes: Villains." The season premiere has been ready since at least July, when it was screened for the supergeeks at Comic Con — in fact, Herc over at Ain't It Cool News has a review and a bevy of spoilers for you here — and is part of a much-hyped two-hour event at 7 o'clock tonight. I'll be watching, of course ... but whether or not I remember it a few months from now, we'll just have to wait and see.

I would love to eat some crow on this one and enjoy an amazing season of "Heroes." Coming after a summer that gave us both "Iron Man" and "The Dark Knight," fans are ready for a truly great television series about superheroes. Season One hinted at it. Season Two failed miserably. Let's see what they give us next.



"Heroes" Season 3 two-hour premiere event starts at 7 p.m. on NBC.

— Adam Reinhard, areinhard@greenbaypressgazette.com

"Heroes": Up, up and away, or down and out?

Excited for next week's finale of "Heroes"? We are, too, but for different reasons. It's not a good sign when the creator of a show admits it's been dragging under the weight of mistakes. But should we hold out hope that the finale can cure the ailments that have plagued this season or just that it ends the pain?

Channel Surfing bloggers Malavika Jagannathan and Adam Reinhard react to last night's episode ("Chapter 10: Truth and Consequences") and what it says about the future of this show.

Dreary and Disappointing: I will be doing a dance when next week's finale brings lukewarm Volume 2 to a swift end.

Last night's episode - here's a recap - was disappointingly flat and as painfully awkward as Mohinder's lame attempt to be a good "Company" man. The only worthwhile plot development was the death of one half of the wonder/moron twins. Although, who knows, with the number of presumably dead people coming back to life on the show, Alejandro may be back for more.

With cheerleader Claire mourning HRG's untimely death, a death we in the audience already know is fake, and newbie hero Monica battling gangbangers in New Orleans over a set of comic books, I was bored. Then there's the whole thing with the virus that presumably wipes out 90 percent of humanity, blah blah blah blah. Still bored.

The only thing to jolt me back from my nearly comatose state were the final seconds of the show as Hiro set up next week's showdown by attacking Peter Petrelli in the secret Texas facility housing the virus. Sweet. More evidence to suggest the show changes its name to "Hiro." But enough juice to make me hopeful the show perhaps hasn't lost its edge. Let's just hope Tim Kring can find his way around the mistakes and give us something in the finale to be excited about.

-- Malavika Jagannathan, mjaganna@greenbaypressgazette.com

Just hang in there: How fitting that it would be supervillain Sylar to save "Heroes." First season's Big Bad was in fine form Monday night, playing mind games on Maya, gutting Alejandro like a pig, and holding Molly the Map Girl hostage. After not having much of anything evil to do this season but smuggle illegal immigrants, our favorite mind-sucker got his groove back.

The same can't be said for most of the rest of the episode, but there were still enough checks in the "pro" column to not go into next week's finale with a scowl on your face. If anything, we can look forward to a battle between Hiro and Peter (and possibly between Elle and Claire.) Hopefully we'll see what roles new characters Maya and Monica play (if any.) And we'll see what exactly Claire meant by "showing the world what she can do." If we're lucky, she'll get this series moving in the direction it should've taken 11 episodes ago: getting our heroes to be actual heroes, not just a bunch of post-modern whiny babies. Micah had the right idea when his backpack was stolen. He and his super-strong mom need to mount up and fight for a little truth, justice and American way.

Whaddya say, fans? Can you hold out a little longer, give "Heroes" one more chance?

-- Adam Reinhard, lifeisfunnybutnothahafunny@gmail.com

Not satisfied? Here's a nice breakdown of the villains and heroes from the good folks at Entertainment Weekly.

I'm holding out for "Heroes"

Time to face facts, true believers: "Heroes" this season has been pretty lame. If the Emmy-nominated first season was Superman, this season is coming off more like Blue Beetle.

What went wrong? The adventures of Peter Petrelli and friends landed 17 million viewers in the beginning of October (thanks to a operating change in the Nielsen's, allowing viewers from a second airing to be added to the first,) but the show failed to crack the Top 20 last week. Fans have complained about the snail-like pacing, the boring new additions to the do-gooder roster (cry-baby Maya and brother Alejandro, anyone?), and Hiro's extended vacation in 15th century Japan, helping out his own hero, Kensei, who ANYONE COULD SEE would eventually become a bad guy.

Things got so bad that even show creator Tim Kring fessed up to fumbling the ball in a recent Entertainment Weekly interview. Recognizing fan disgruntlement, Kring promised to remove the kryptonite and restore some adrenaline to the storylines.

As much was evident in this week's episode, which FINALLY flashes back to where last season's finale left off, with the after-effects of Peter's nuclear meltdown over New York. We found out why Peter needed Nathan to fly him away instead of flying himself (he was using all his power to keep from going boom,) and we saw Maya first discover her bleeding-eye power in the season's first holy-crap moment when she accidentally kills an entire wedding party. And we saw electric-bugaboo Kristen Bell look sexy as hell, toying with a captive Peter.

With three episodes to go before the "mid-season finale," (and presumably until the writer's strike is resolved -- maybe Jessica can go slap around a few studio heads, get them to cough up some residuals,) I'd say "Heroes" is back on track, if only seven episodes late.

-- Adam Reinhard, lifeisfunnybutnothahafunny@gmail.com