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TV Review: REVENGE – Season 1 – “Duress”

By ANNE LOUISE BANNON 01/05/2012

Connor Paolo and Josh Bowman in REVENGE - Season 1 - "Duress" | ©2011 ABC/Carol Kaelson

Stars: Emily VanCamp, Madeleine Stowe, Henry Czerny, Josh Bowman, Nick Wechsler, Gabriel Mann, Ashley Madekwe, Christa B. Allen, Connor Paolo Writer: Elle Treidman Director: Jamie Babbit Network: ABC, Wednesday nights, 10 p.m. Original Telecast: January 4, 2012 Ah, the evil Tyler (Ashley Holmes) is really going off the deep end – which we knew he was going to. Good thing Emily Thorne (Emily VanCamp) can turn any situation to her advantage in her relentless pursuit of revenge against the Graysons, who were behind getting her father convicted of a crime he did not commit. Meanwhile, it looks like the divorce between Victoria Grayson (Madeleine Stowe) and Conrad Grayson (Henry Czerny) is going to […]Read On »

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Exclusive Interview: Former LOST star Nestor Carbonell talks RINGER and THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 01/03/2012

Nestor Carbonell in RINGER - Season 1 | ©2011 The CW/Eric Liebowitz

In the CW’s freshman series RINGER, which airs Tuesdays at 9 PM, Sarah Michelle Gellar stars as twin sisters Bridget and Siobhan. Wealthy Siobhan invited Bridget to New York, then faked her own death. Bridget has adopted Siobhan’s identity, partly to get away from Victor Machado, the determined FBI agent played by Nestor Carbonell, as Victor wants Bridget to testify against a homicidal mob boss. Back in 2004, Carbonell starred with future RINGER colleague Ioan Gruffudd in the short-lived legal drama CENTURY CITY. The New York-born actor has also been a series regular on SUDDENLY SUSAN and THE TICK, but […]Read On »

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TV Review: CHUCK – Season 5 – “Vs. The Baby”

By CARL CORTEZ 12/31/2011

Abigail Moore and Ryan McPartlin in CHUCK - Season 5 - "Vs. The Baby" | ©2011 NBC/Greg Gayne

Stars: Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Joshua Gomez, Adam Baldwin, Vik Sahay, Scott Krinsky, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Ryan McPartlin Writer: Rafe Judkins and Lauren LeFranc Director: Matt Barber Network: NBC, airs Friday nights Original Telecast: December 30, 2011 For its fifth and final season CHUCK has been firing on all cylinders, wrapping up loose plot threads, bringing back important characters and essentially building up a place where our characters (we hope) will live in some sort of form of happily ever after once the finale is over. This week with “Vs. The Baby”, we’re into a very Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) centered episode. At the end […]Read On »

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Exclusive Interview: CHUCK star Mark Christopher Lawrence looks back on five seasons of Buy More fun

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 12/30/2011

Mark Christopher Lawrence in CHUCK | ©NBC/Mitchell Haaseth

Actor Mark Christopher Lawrence is known to stage audiences for his comedy in both the stand-up and gospel arenas. In film, he’s had small roles in huge pictures, including TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY, CRIMSON TIDE and the cult favorite FEAR OF A BLACK HAT. On television, the Los Angeles native has appeared on many series, but most viewers know him for his series regular role as Big Mike on NBC’s CHUCK, which airs Fridays at 8 PM. In five seasons of CHUCK, Big Mike has gone from being the manager of the Buy More store to an enthusiastic assistant manager. […]Read On »

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Exclusive Interview: THE VAMPIRE DIARIES star Paul Wesley has a bite

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 12/29/2011

Paul Wesley at the Bing presents THE CW PREMIERE PARTY | ©2011 Sue Schneider

For the first two seasons of CW’s big hit THE VAMPIRE DIARIES (Thursdays at 8 PM), it was easy to tell the two vampire Salvatore brothers apart. Stefan, played by Paul Wesley, was the good one who never wanted to kill humans, and Damon, played by Ian Somerhalder, was the bad one, who killed whoever and whenever he wanted. In Season Three, the tables are turned. Stefan has let his inner Ripper emerge, and Damon, along with Stefan’s human girlfriend Elena (Nina Dobrev) are desperately trying to restore Stefan to his old self. Wesley is having a blast with the […]Read On »

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Exclusive Interview: Kirk Acevedo discusses the different worlds of PRIME SUSPECT and FRINGE

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 12/28/2011

Kirk Acevedo and Maria Bello in PRIME SUSPECT - Season 1 | ©2011 NBC/Gavin Bond

Bronx-born actor Kirk Acevedo has spent a good portion of his performing career playing people on one side or the other of the law. After costarring as a soldier in HBO’s landmark WWII miniseries BAND OF BROTHERS, Acevedo was a series regular in 46 episodes of HBO’s prison drama OZ as inmate Miguel Alvarez. He has guest-starred on the original LAW & ORDER, LAW & ORDER: SVU and LAW & ORDER: TRIAL BY JURY. Even when he’s in genre fare, Acevedo seems to wind up in law-enforcement – he’s Fringe Division’s Charlie Francis in both universes on FRINGE. He’s also […]Read On »

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Interview: Lorraine Bracco and Sasha Alexander on RIZZOLI & ISLES

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 12/26/2011

Lorraine Bracco in RIZZOLI & ISLES - Season 2 - "Can I Get A Witness" | © 2011 TNT

RIZZOLI & ISLES, concluding its second season on TNT tonight, is a fan favorite. Not only is the series, based on Tess Gerritsen’s novels, a snappy crime-solving procedural, but it provides a view of supportive female friendship between its leads, Angie Harmon as police detective Jane Rizzoli and Sasha Alexander as coroner Maura Isles, that is rare on television. This season, Maura has opened her home to Jane’s recently divorced mother Angie, played by Lorraine Bracco. Both actresses, as well as series production designer Bruce Miller, are on hand in the set for Maura’s living room. The space is beautiful, […]Read On »

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TV Review: DOCTOR WHO – Series 6 – “The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe” – Christmas Special

By ARNOLD T. BLUMBERG 12/25/2011

Matt Smith and Holly Earl in DOCTOR WHO - Series 6 - Christmas Special | ©2011 BBC

Stars: Matt Smith, Claire Skinner, Bill Bailey, Arabella Weir, Alexander Armstrong, Maurice Cole, Holly Earl, Paul Bazely, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill Writer: Steven Moffat Director: Farren Blackburn Network: BBC America, airs Sunday night Original Telecast: December 25, 2011 In the 2011 DOCTOR WHO Christmas special adventure, “The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe,” our favorite Time Lord (Matt Smith) has a debt to repay to a grieving war widow (Claire Skinner) and her children (Holly Earl, Maurice Cole). Posing as the caretaker of a substantially retrofitted mansion, the Doctor has to rescue the family from a sentient forest in another time […]Read On »

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TV Review: CHUCK – Season 5 – “Vs. the Santa Suit”

By ANNE LOUISE BANNON 12/24/2011

Zachary Levi and Bonita Friedericy in CHUCK - Season 5 - "Vs. The Santa Suit" | ©2011 NBC/Mike Ansell

Stars: Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Joshua Gomez, Adam Baldwin, Vik Sahay, Scott Krinsky, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Ryan McPartlin Writer: Amanda Kate Shuman Director: Peter Lauer Network: NBC, Friday nights, 8 p.m. Original Telecast: December 23, 2011 On the roller coaster ride that is CHUCK this season, this week’s episode, Chuck vs. The Santa Suit, you almost have to wonder if we’re headed back into that corner it sometimes feels like the writers have written themselves into. You also have to wonder how many of the old bad guys they’re going to rustle up in the next few episodes. Tonight, we have Daniel Shaw (Brandon Routh) back from […]Read On »

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TV Review: AMERICAN HORROR STORY – Season 1 finale – “Afterbirth”

By RACHEL REITSLEFF 12/23/2011

Jessica Lange in AMERICAN HORROR STORY - Season 1 - "Afterbirth" | ©2011 FX/Prashant Gupta

Stars: Connie Britton, Dylan McDermott, Jessica Lange, Taissa Farmiga, Evan Peters, Frances Conroy, Kate Mara, Lily Rabe, Alexandra Breckinridge, Christine Estabrook, Michael Graziadei, Charles S. Dutton Writer: Jessica Sharzer, series created by Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuk Director: Bradley Buecker Network: FX, Wednesdays @ 10 PM Original Telecast: December 21, 2011 With “Afterbirth,” AMERICAN HORROR STORY’s first-season conclusion, we’re surprised that a number of characters have quasi-happy endings – that would be unendings, in several cases, as most of them are ghosts – while we’re left unsure of just how seriously to take all those promises of the apocalypse. In […]Read On »

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