Posted Sep 11th 2007 12:01PM by Brett Love
Filed under: The Closer, Episode Reviews
(S03E13) And so ends another season. To tell you the truth, the way The Closer has been running this season, I could go for another 9 or so more episodes before season three ends, but you know what they say about wishing and hands. We'll have to make due with the fact that there is a boatload of shows ready to premiere right around the corner, and take solace in the knowledge that after 41 episodes, this show just keeps getting better.
I suppose I have tipped my hand there. Yes, I really enjoyed this episode. The case got a little bit squirrely there for a moment, but they got it back under control just in time for the good guys to win, and to cap off the season quite nicely. As fun as that was though, my favorite part of the episode was the Fritz/Brenda relationship drama. More on both of those, after the jump.
Continue reading The Closer: Til Death Do Us Part (part 2 - season finale)
Posted Sep 4th 2007 9:00AM by Brett Love
Filed under: The Closer, Episode Reviews
(
S03E12) Anna is off attending to other things, so she asked me to step in for the last two episodes of
The Closer. I was happy to take over as this has been a really good season, and it looks like they have pulled out all the stops for the big, two part, finale.
Getting to that, I liked how this one started right from the beginning. Between Buzz's video opening and the mixed up format that has us seeing the courtroom drama and the investigation at the same time, they have set the two part finale apart as a bit of a special event. That idea is helped right along with some nice casting. I was particularly happy to see Stephen Culp (late of
Traveler) and the return of James Patrick Stuart as D.D.A. Garnett. The two of them hold up the courtroom end of the story very well, which is no small task when trying to balance out Brenda on the other side.
Continue reading The Closer: Til Death Do Us Part (Part 1)
Posted Aug 28th 2007 11:17AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: OpEd, The Closer, Episode Reviews
(
S03E11) This episode was chock full of stuff, wasn't it? I'm trying to figure out which story lines set us up for more issues down the road and I think there are several. But first, let's talk about Brenda Leigh. I was really feeling her pain during this episode. She just had abdominal surgery to reverse her Early Onset Menopause and she was obviously very uncomfortable. The woman should've been in bed, but we know she doesn't relax very well. And she wasn't even hiding her discomfort, which is a bit unusual for her. Also, I loved her near-breakdown when Fritz wouldn't help and she almost started crying about the fact that she couldn't eat chocolate anymore. That's a great personal issue that will no doubt bring on some comedy in the future.
Continue reading The Closer: Lover's Leap
Posted Aug 21st 2007 6:31AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: OpEd, The Closer, Episode Reviews
(
S03E10) You know what I like about this show? I like that, when each episode opens, the crime has already happened. With
CSI and
Law & Order, the crime usually happens at the opening of the episode. But we get absolutely no context from
The Closer, but I enjoy that.
Okay, so this wasn't my favorite episode this season. In fact, I'd say it was my least favorite. It didn't suck--not by any means--but I just didn't find it all that intriguing. I think the case just was too simple. Even though Brenda and the detectives interviewed a handful of people, it didn't really seem to take any twists or turns. And, the presence of Brenda's parents derailed the case for me (as it did for her).
Continue reading The Closer: Culture Shock
Posted Aug 19th 2007 5:30PM by Richard Keller
Filed under: Celebrities, The Closer, Casting
Sure, sure, The Closer has received many accolades during its three seasons on the air, and star Kyra Sedgwick has won and been nominated for several awards. However, can you really say that the show has made it into the television pantheon? Well, now that Larry King is appearing you can definitely shout out a resounding 'YES'.
It's true, folks. Larry will guest-star on the season finale of The Closer, which will air September 10th on TNT.
Continue reading Larry King to appear on The Closer season finale
Posted Aug 14th 2007 6:33AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: OpEd, The Closer, Episode Reviews
(
S03E09) Another great episode of
The Closer! The writers of this show are really knocking it out of the park this season. Did anybody notice in the opening credits that Kevin Bacon directed this episode? I giggled when we saw Brenda nude in the shower (through the frosted glass) because that seemed like a Bacon touch there... show off his hot wife.
Once again, the writers were able to magically mix humor with emotion. And the emotions in this episode were very highly charged, yet the humor fit right in. I am continuously impressed by the show- by the way the story lines and subplots are balanced so perfectly. The writers have become experts at knowing when humor is appropriate and when it isn't.
Continue reading The Closer: Blindsided
Posted Aug 7th 2007 4:19PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: OpEd, The Closer, Episode Reviews
(
S03E08) Aha! It's... Okay, I'll wait until after the jump to say what Brenda's diagnosis is just in case some of you still have last night's episode waiting on the DVR.
This week's episode seemed a little unusual. That's not a bad thing, but it was different than what I've come to expect from
The Closer. The supporting cast didn't play very prominent roles and I don't remember any laugh-out-loud comments from Provenza or Flynn. I guess the topic--serial killer--is where the writers draw the line at cracking jokes. It's understandable, really. The crimes were truly horrendous and I have to wonder about the person who dreamed up such torture. There was really no opportunity through the investigation to be cracking jokes.
Continue reading The Closer: Manhunt
Posted Aug 2nd 2007 8:30AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: The Closer, Pickups and Renewals
Kick-ass ratings and another Emmy nomination for Kyra Sedgwick have led TNT
to renew The Closer for a fourth season. The police procedural is currently in the middle of its third season and is enjoying
huge ratings for a cable series. Last week, it ranked #1 in cable Nielsens with more than 7 million viewers. Overall ratings for
The Closer are up 15 percent over last summer.
I review
The Closer for TV Squad, and I have to say that this is a spectacular season so far. The investigations are more thrilling and the characters--especially Dep. Chief Brenda Johnson--are getting more complicated, and therefore more interesting. If you haven't been keeping up, you can watch the latest episode on
TNT's website or the entire season
on iTunes.
Posted Jul 31st 2007 12:41PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: OpEd, The Closer, Episode Reviews
(
S03E07) Those evil, evil writers over at
The Closer kept us hanging on for one more week about what on earth is wrong with Brenda. While it was frustrating that we didn't get an answer, it was also very well done. I thought the fact that Brenda went to see her doctor but didn't ask any questions about what could be wrong was very within her quirky character. She didn't want to know all the possibilities... just the facts. Now I'm strongly suspecting she's at the beginning of menopause. I just don't think her symptoms are of pregnancy.
Continue reading The Closer: Four to Eight
Posted Jul 30th 2007 12:40PM by Keith McDuffee
Filed under: Desperate Housewives, House, Rescue Me, Grey's Anatomy, Site Announcements, TV Squad Polls, Bones, The Closer
As some of you may have noticed, some of the categories to the left have changed. There's a new one there: Dramedy Shows. We put this in place because there really are shows that don't fit in just the drama or comedy categories alone. There are some shows, however, where we are in a bit of a dispute over classifying them as dramedies.
In particular,
House is a show that has definite, purposefully comedic elements, yet the drama portions of the show are quite heavy-handed and serious. But are Hugh Laurie's House antics enough to slide the category meter over to make this show a dramedy?
Continue reading Is House a dramedy? A TV Squad poll
Posted Jul 25th 2007 9:27AM by Michael Maloney
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, The Closer, Heroes, Brothers and Sisters, TCA Press Tour, Awards
After 15 consecutive days of Mohammed (TV shows) coming to the mountain (the Beverly Hilton hotel), today the mountain (actually, the TCA membership) went to Mohammed. Two bus loads of TV critics boarded vehicles to hit five sound stages and the offices of TMZ.com.
First up was The Closer at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. Kyra Sedgwick and other cast members of the TNT drama mixed and mingled on the show's squad room set. Most reporters hovered around Sedgwick to inquire about her Emmy nomination for Lead Actress in a Drama Series, the show's new season and husband Kevin Bacon.
Continue reading Set visits to The Closer, TMZ, Cold Case, Two and a Half Men, Brothers & Sisters - TCA report
Posted Jul 24th 2007 4:41PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: OpEd, The Closer, Episode Reviews
(
S03E06) So... what's wrong with Brenda? She's getting fevers, she's highly emotional and weepy, and she feels like she has a cold. It seemed like the writers were hinting to us that she's pregnant because of her weepiness, irritability and her apparent craving for mashed potatoes. But, what about the fevers? I went on to WebMD to try and figure it out and I'm stumped.
Continue reading The Closer: Dumb Luck
Posted Jul 24th 2007 12:09PM by Michael Maloney
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, The Closer, Heroes, Brothers and Sisters, TCA Press Tour
Okay, today we really are having a field trip with the Television Critics Association. It's called a "TCA Day" -- the first one was on Saturday, which consisted of a membership meeting and the TCA awards.
This morning, the TCA membership is boarding a bus outside the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills and heading out to Burbank and Hollywood for set visits at The Closer, Heroes, TMZ, Two and a Half Men, and Brothers & Sisters.
Continue reading TCA Day 2: Set visits to Heroes, The Closer, Brothers & Sisters - TCA report
Posted Jul 17th 2007 1:15PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: The Closer, Episode Reviews
(
S03E05) Not my favorite episode so far this season, but still very entertaining. That's because
The Closer does quirky very, very well. Brenda is usually the freakiest freak of the bunch, but this week she got overshadowed by her real estate agent and by a surly old man who claimed to have killed seven people.
Let's start with the real estate agent, named Gary (played by French Stewart). He works his catch phrase, "Gary Doesn't Lie" into almost every conversation with Brenda and Fritz as he helps them look for a new home. I don't know what these two professionals are doing with this slimeball-- as interrogators for the FBI and the LAPD, don't they know creeps when they see them? French Stewart did a marvelous job of playing an LA-type real estate agent who was working his gimmick the whole time.
Continue reading The Closer: Round File
Posted Jul 11th 2007 10:30AM by Richard Keller
Filed under: OpEd, 24, Gilmore Girls, Law and Order, Rescue Me, Scrubs, The Shield, Grey's Anatomy, Entourage, The Office, The Sopranos, The Closer, Psych, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, 30 Rock, Dexter, Friday Night Lights, Awards, The Riches
Let me take a look at my trusty calendar. Okay, tomorrow I take the kids to the doctor. On Thursday I get that bikini wax. Friday? Well, I do the same think as I do every Friday -- try to take over the world (Snarf!). Now, for next week . . .
Sweet Niblets! Next week (July 19th, to be exact) they announce the nominees for the 59th Emmy awards to honor achievements for what has gone on previously rather than what is going on now. Which is opposite of the Golden Globes or the SAG awards, which honor achievements that are going on both presently and in the past. Wait, let me read that again . . . yep, that makes sense!
So, in preparation for the television wonk's biggest night of the year I have asked the humongous staff over here at TV Squad to give me a hand in picking out who will be the likely nominees and winners in the Best Actor/Actress/Drama/Comedy categories. Of course, your opinions may differ. But, hey, what fun would it be if we picked the same things you did?
Continue reading TV Squad picks their choices for Emmy nominees and winners
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