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Exclusive Interview: The Season 3 scoop on THE VAMPIRE DIARIES from Kevin Williamson

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 02/09/2012

Joseph Morgan, Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley in THE VAMPIRE DIARIES - Season 3 | ©2011 The CW/Frank Ockenfels 3

In the third season of the CW’s THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, Thursdays at 8 PM, events are unfolding at what is, for this show, typical and sometimes literally breakneck pace. Stefan (Paul Wesley) went bad, but may be good again. Stefan’s brother Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and the humanish (she’s also a doppelganger) love of Stefan’s life Elena (Nina Dobrev) kissed. The family of Original vampire/werewolf hybrid Klaus (Joseph Morgan) has returned from being dead for centuries. There are ghosts. There are witches. There’s a mysterious murderer running around, attacking people on the anti-vampire Council working inMystic Falls,VA, where the story is […]Read On »

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TV Review: REVENGE – Season 1 – “Perception”

By ANNE LOUISE BANNON

Emily VanCamp and Madeleine Stowe in REVENGE - Season 1 - "Perception" | ©2012 ABC/Colleen Hayes

Stars: Emily VanCamp, Madeleine Stowe, Henry Czerny, Josh Bowman, Nick Wechsler, Gabriel Mann, Ashley Madekwe, Christa B. Allen, Connor Paolo Writer: Nikki Toscano & Sallie Patrick Director: Tim Hunter Network: ABC, Wednesday nights, 10 p.m. Original Telecast: February 8, 2012 There is a problem with elaborate plans, such as Emily Thorne’s (Emily VanCamp) to exact REVENGE on Victoria and Conrad Grayson (Madeleine Stowe and Henry Czerny) for arranging to have Emily’s father David Clarke (James Tupper) wrongfully convicted of terrorism. You could even legitimately argue that it’s a problem inherent in the premise of the show, but we won’t. The more elaborate a plan is, the more things can go wrong. And in […]Read On »

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Blu-ray and DVD picks of the week including THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1

By PETER BROWN

TWILIGHT SAGA BREAKING DAWN PART 1 | © 2012 Summit

Your time is short. We know this. So in order to expedite your buying and Netflix decision making, we provide you with a list of the cool and not-so-cool titles coming out for movies, television and everything in-between. So put your feet up, grab some popcorn and check out this week’s selections. Movies TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1 – I always laugh when a new one of these tween vampire love fests gets released because all I can ever picture is the meme about Kristen Stewart’s range of emotions. Or the multiple memes about how even rainbows are not […]Read On »

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TV Review: SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE – “A Place in this World”

By SEAN ELLIOTT

Craig Parker, Viva Bianca, and Hanna Mangan Lawrence in SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE - "A Place In This World" | ©2012 Starz

Stars: Lucy Lawless, Liam McIntyre, Manu Bennett, Peter Mensah, Viva Bianca, Craig Parker Writer: Brent Fletcher, Created by Steven S. DeKnight Director: Jesse Warn Network: STARZ, airs Friday nights Original Telecast: February 3, 2012 SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE continues to cut a swath of destruction and add to the body count with the latest episode “A Place in this World”. Spartacus (Liam McIntyre) post his market showdown gone awry with Claudius Glaber (Craig Parker) has decided to follow the advice and wishes of Crixus (Manu Bennett) and head in search of Crixus’ lost love who has been sold from villa to villa […]Read On »

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TV Review: AMERICAN IDOL – Season 11 – “Hollywood Round, Part 1”

By PETER BROWN

A contestant prepares to perform in front of the judges on AMERICAN IDOL - Season 11 - "Hollywood Round Part " | © 2012 Fox/Michael Becker

Cast: Ryan Seacrest, Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez, Randy Jackson Network: Fox, airs Wednesdays and Thursdays @ 9 p.m. Original Telecast: Feb. 8, 2012 So after literally a month of craptacular auditions we are finally to the meat of the world’s greatest karaoke competition, AMERICAN IDOL. The audition rounds are so eight season ago. They really need to truncate it and get right to the competition because it is no longer holds the interest that it once did. Luckily, we are past that part now. Last year they finally gave us an extended look at the Hollywood Round, where the judges […]Read On »

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Exclusive Interview: Paul Blackthorne heads down THE RIVER

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 02/08/2012

Paul Blackthorne in THE RIVER - Season | ©ABC/Bob D'Amico

There has been plenty of horror on television, and there have been pseudo-documentaries on television, but THE RIVER, airing on ABC Tuesdays at 9 PM, is the first narrative series to combine the two. With PARANORMAL ACTIVITY maker Oren Peli as one of the show’s creators, Michael R. Perry (PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2, STEPHEN KING’S DEAD ZONE TV series, MILLENNIUM) as its other creator and Steven Spielberg as one of the executive producers, the series arrived on the scene with plenty of genre street – or waterways – cred, even before proving itself to be truly scary in its first episode. In […]Read On »

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TV Review: THE VAMPIRE DIARIES – Season 3 – “Bringing Out the Dead”

By SEAN ELLIOTT

Joseph Morgan and Paul Wesley in THE VAMPIRE DIARIES - Season 3 - "Bringing Out the Dead" | ©2012 The CW/Quantrell D. Colbert

Stars: Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder Writer: Turi Meyer, Based on the book by L.J. Smith Director: Jeffrey G. Hunt Network: The CW, airs Thursday nights Original Telecast: February 2, 2012 So the new episode of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES is all about family. “Bringing Out the Dead” has some truly touching moments, and then some nice shockers and twists as usual. What exactly does family mean to our Mystic Falls crew? The ties that bind are tested and tightened in some cases as everyone gets put through the paces and more plots against Klaus (Joseph Morgan) move forward. The […]Read On »

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TV Review: BEING HUMAN – Season 2 – “(I Loathe You) for Sentimental Reasons”

By RACHEL REITSLEFF

Meaghan Rath in BEING HUMAN - Season 2 | ©2012 Syfy/Jeff Riedel

Stars: Sam Witwer, Meaghan Rath, Sam Huntington, Dichen Lachman, Susanna Fournier, Kyle Schmid, Tracy Spiridakos, Jon Cor, Martin Thibaudeau, Pat Kiely, Sean Tucker, Amber Goldfarb Writer: Mike Ostrowski, adapted for U.S. television by Jeremy Carver & Anna Fricke, created for U.K. television by Toby Whithouse Director: Charles Biname Network: Syfy, Mondays @ 9 PM Airdate: February 7, 2012 In “(I Loathe You) for Sentimental Reasons,” BEING HUMAN gets its style on with some hot flashbacks to 1930. The look doesn’t suit everyone, but Sam Witwer as Aidan and Dichen Lachman as vampire princess Suren look smashing. What’s more, the actors […]Read On »

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TV Review: GLEE – Season 3 – “The Spanish Teacher”

By CARL CORTEZ

Matthew Morrison in GLEE - Season 3 - "The Spanish Teacher" | ©2012 Fox/Adam Rose

Stars: Dianna Agron, Chris Colfer, Darren Criss, Jane Lynch, Jayma Mays, Kevin McHale, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Heather Morris, Matthew Morrison, Amber Riley, Naya Rivera, Mark Salling, Harry Shum Jr., Jenna Ushkowitz Writer: Ryan Murphy Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon Network: Fox, airs Tuesday nights Original Telecast: February 7, 2012 Throughout most of the GLEE episode “The Spanish Teacher” I felt bored, and then offended and finally, just plain confused. I also felt a little violated as well, since after an episode of “Michael,” the series immediately dived in to another bit of stunt casting with Ricky Martin and the producers promised […]Read On »

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TV Review: SMASH – Season 1 – “Pilot” – Series Premiere

By CARL CORTEZ 02/07/2012

Katharine McPhee and Megan Hilty in SMASH - Season 1 | ©2012 NBC/Mark Seliger

Stars: Debra Messing, Christian Borle, Megan Hilty, Katharine McPhee, Jack Davenport, Angelica Houston Writers: Theresa Rebeck Director: Michael Mayer Network: NBC, airs Mondays Original Telecast: February 6, 2012 Of all the new TV series, SMASH seemed to be the least appealing to me. My initial perception, like many, that it was a more adult version of GLEE set in the world of Broadway. It looked like it had limited appeal across the board. Then something magnificent happened. I actually watched the pilot episode and was blown away. Granted, I am reviewing the “Pilot” episode, but since the second episode was […]Read On »

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