Inside Pulse TV http://tv.insidepulse.com Whether the shows are on network, cable or even premium channels like HBO or SHOWTIME, our outspoken staff will to tell you what you’re missing, what you should try out and what’s not worth your time. Whether your life is just as dramatic or not at all - PrimeTime Pulse is your place. Mon, 22 Mar 2010 03:19:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 The Celebrity Apprentice Spoilers: Who Was The Second Person Fired? http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/21/the-celebrity-apprentice-spoilers-who-was-the-second-person-fired/ http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/21/the-celebrity-apprentice-spoilers-who-was-the-second-person-fired/#comments Mon, 22 Mar 2010 03:03:54 +0000 Murtz Jaffer http://tv.insidepulse.com/?p=181125 Getting fired is no laughing matter… even if you are a celebrity.

Funny man Sinbad was fired after assuming the project manager position on The Celebrity Apprentice’s second episode. Sinbad led the men to defeat in a task which asked the teams to put together a Kodak storefront and in-store experience.

It hasn’t been the smoothest ride for comedians on the show as Carol Leifert was eliminated by Donald Trump last week.

]]> http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/21/the-celebrity-apprentice-spoilers-who-was-the-second-person-fired/feed/ 0 2010 Inside Pulse Best Television Show Tournament – First Round Voting http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/21/2010-inside-pulse-best-television-show-tournament-first-round-voting/ http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/21/2010-inside-pulse-best-television-show-tournament-first-round-voting/#comments Mon, 22 Mar 2010 02:40:52 +0000 Josh Clinton http://tv.insidepulse.com/?p=180997 It’s that time again! It’s the month of March and that could only mean one thing…time to drink green beer! Oh yeah, and it’s March Madness time! The biggest and most talked about tournament is the NCAA Basketball championship tournament. It kicked off first round action this past weekend, and by now most of your brackets have been completely destroyed and shredded. A select few might still be left in the running for all the money in your office pool, but for everyone else it’s time to start filling out a new bracket.

Everyone loves brackets. Four years ago, I picked out 32 television shows and had Inside Pulse readers vote on which show was the best one on TV. The top four seeds were Lost, 24, American Idol, and The Sopranos. In the end, the final four ended up being #1 – Lost, #2 – 24, #6 – Grey’s Anatomy, and #12 – My Name Is Earl. My Name Is Earl almost did the impossible and won, but lost out to 24 in the finals. Four years later, though, My Name Is Earl and The Sopranos are no longer on the air. You check out that bracket here.

A lot of things have changed since then. The real NCAA Basketball tournament appears to be expanding from 64 to 96 teams in the not too distant future. Many people don’t like that idea, including myself, but just picking out 32 teams this time around would be hard with the increased number of original shows on various networks including the “Big 5″ and about 10 – 20 cable networks. So I have decided that 96 shows should be included in this year’s tournament.

Here is how the shows were selected. Back in early February, the staff unveiled their Top 10 Shows of 2009. I used all of their individual lists to create our overall Top 15 Shows of 2009 list. So for this tournament I started out using those rankings as a starting point for seeding and ranking these shows. But since the start of the year, Inside Pulse has hired about 10 more writers on the staff. So I asked them for the individual top 10 lists. It should be noted that, though, that any show that got cancelled or hasn’t aired any new episodes since the Fall of 2009 is not eligible. The ultimate goal is to decide what is the best television show on the air today? As long as a new season has started since the summer of 2009 or their our plans to start a new season this year, that show is eligible.

After all the individual top 10 lists were compiled and calculated, there were 22 shows that rose above the rest. There were all on at least 4 or 5 different lists and ranked high enough on each of those lists to rank high in the overall rankings. So those 22 shows automatically earned a bye into the second round of the tournament. But we still needed 10 more shows to receive a bye, so that there would be an even 64 shows facing off against each other in the first round and then face off in the second round with the 32 shows with an opening round bye. So since I couldn’t really see giving shows a bye that wasn’t ranked high by enough people, I looked to what shows people are watching the most each week. Using the Nielsen Ratings, I saw that there were 11 shows in the overall top 20 that weren’t among the previous 22 shows that our staff ranked high. But one show, Undercover Boss, is relatively new and the only reason it is in the top 20 for this season is because it got the coveted post-Super Bowl spot on CBS. So I decided that should be the show to leave out of the opening round bye. But I did give Undercover Boss the top spot outside of the top 32. The top 4 or 5 spots after them were also filled by shows that were in the top 20 for the 18-40 demographic, but weren’t already in our rankings.

So with all that background out of the way, it’s time to reveal the 96 shows that made it into this year’s best show tournament. Even with 96 shows, I’m sure there are still some of your favorites that didn’t make into the field. But among the opinions of 25 staffers with a variety of tastes, the majority of your favorites should be there. Take a look at the bracket yourself by going here:

2010 Inside Pulse Best Television Show Tournament Bracket

As you can see there are four different regions with 24 seeds each. 8 teams from each bracket have already gotten a bye as described above. That still leaves 8 different matchups from each region that need YOUR vote. So the time is now. Tell all your friends. We may have decided the rankings for these shows, but it’s up to YOU to VOTE for which show you think is the best on TV. Make sure to vote for all the matchups as every vote counts.

ABC Region – First Round Matchups

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FOX Region – First Round Matchups

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CBS Region – First Round Matchups

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NBC Region – First Round Matchups

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Each of these polls will stay open for one week. Next week the next round begins and we will continue until the final show is crowed as the best some time in May. Remember to tell all of your friends to vote as well!

Sir Linksalot: Television News

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]]> http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/21/2010-inside-pulse-best-television-show-tournament-first-round-voting/feed/ 0 Caprica – Episode 1-8 Review http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/21/caprica-episode-1-8-review/ http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/21/caprica-episode-1-8-review/#comments Sun, 21 Mar 2010 17:58:19 +0000 The TV Obsessed http://tv.insidepulse.com/?p=181019 One of the most overused episode titles is “Ghost in the Machine” along with “Tabula Rasa.” Last night’s episode was named “Ghosts in the Machine,” just slightly different. Episode titles should be taken with a grain of salt, and considering how far you want to interpret, the episode could refer to the ghost of Zoe, her lingering consciousness in the virtual world, and the divide between Joseph Adama in the real world and in New Cap City. Or it has a crazy deeper meaning.

Deviating from the normally multiple-plot heavy episodes, “Ghosts” zeroed in on Daniel, Zoe, and Joseph, and had some of the most intense scenes of the series. The plot inched slowly, and nothing really happened, but the complex themes and character rendered the plot almost unnecessary. There’s one episode left before an insanely long hiatus, so we can expect much more development next week.

After the realization that Zoe in the Cylon last episode, Daniel sets out to prove his theory. First, he just talks to Zoe, hoping for a response. Zoe, knowing how selfish her father can be, is adamant about not tipping her hand. She fears he has ulterior motives other than wanting to reconnect with his daughter. Immediately, Zoe is proven right as Daniel moves to a more persuasive tactic to get a reaction. He has the robot assemble and reassemble the gun while the details Zoe’s fear of fire. His uses vivid descriptions effectively, and Alessandra Torresani is amazingly good with the expression on her face, showing Zoe’s pain as she continues to put the gun together without even making a noise.

Daniel goes even further taking the Cylon to the lake. There, he starts talking again, chastising Zoe for being scared. This leads into his next test. Daniel dumps gasoline all over her, and tosses a lit cigarette on the gas, setting a wall of fire around Zoe. She doesn’t move except for clenching her hand, and now, she’s even a bit angry.

The final test was by far the worst. Daniel orders Zoe to shoot the dog, and following in line, Zoe shoots the dog. Before everyone gets overly upset, we learn the gun had blanks. In between each test, Zoe and Lacy discuss what happened in randomly injected scenes. Zoe tells Lacy that the robot knew they were blanks, and that if the bullets were real, she may even have turned the gun on Daniel.

Daniel’s psychological terrorization of a scared girl was shocking and Zoe’s reaction was near perfect. If Daniel simply wanted his daughter back, it would be in his best interest to be nice and show that there is an inviting environment for her. Instead, he is as harsh as possibly, only looking to see if Zoe is in there. He wants the straight facts of what’s going on, not his daughter. Daniel wasn’t really a sympathetic character before this, but there’s almost no way to see him in good light after this. The episode ends with Daniel looking at old videos of Zoe, calling into question his true intentions. I’m going to stick with my assertion that Daniel is up to no good, but certainly his actions in the end were contrary to everything else he did in the episode.

Playing into Daniel’s fanaticism about the Cylon, Amanda continues her descent. She visits the scene of her brother’s crash, and see her brother once more. This time, he’s driving past in a car. Amanda gives Clarice a call to get counsel, and Clarice pushes the conversation in the direction of Zoe, setting a prelude for next week’s episode. Later, Vergis, still upset about the death of his employees, shows up at the Graystone house. He lays out all the facts as the unstable Amanda listen. She can’t believe what she’s hearing and orders Vergis to leave. It has to put at least a seed of doubt in her already unstable mind. Just wait until she finds out what Daniel has been up to.

Joseph is back in New Cap City with his companion Emmanuelle who he learns is being paid by someone else to help him. Who else would know or care about the Tamara avatar? Is there someone pulling the strings? They visit Joseph’s apartment in New Cap City where they encounter a deadbeat who tells them Tamara is in a club named Mysteries. Some guys with guns come to get answers. Emmanuelle takes them out, but Joseph is unable to pull the trigger. Emmanuelle takes a shot at him, “I thought Taurons had bigger stones.” So did I. Joseph returns to the real world and asks Sam about killing people. Sam, confused about his intentions, tells him not to think it’s real and to degrade people into targets so it’s just a game.

Joseph returns to New Cap City, advice in mind, to find his daughter. He and Emmanuelle go into the strip club where the host is a cross-dressing weirdo who wants an answer to riddle. When Joseph doesn’t answer, he’s kicked out. Taking Sam’s advice in stride, Joseph shoots the guy up front keeping everyone’s guns, grabs a few guns for himself and goes charging back in the club, shooting a few before telling everyone to scatter. The host tells her that she was at the club earlier to find answers.

The host gives a warning, telling Joseph that the game changes everyone. He showed he was willing to kill people in the virtual world. As Sam says, tell yourself it’s not real. It isn’t, but where is the line drawn? Could Joseph hone his cold-blooded killing in the virtual world, and become like Sam?

Caprica is in danger of not renewed, and I’ll be very disappointed if it does not. The show has maintained the same high quality since the pilot, and “Ghosts,” which was very different than the other episode with the pure focus on several characters, proved that Caprica has the potential to be not only great sci-fi, but also a great drama that belongs in the same sentence as Mad Men and Breaking Bad.

Score: 9.4/10

The TV Obsessed reviews over 40 shows on his blog: The TV Obsessed

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]]> http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/21/caprica-episode-1-8-review/feed/ 1 IPTV Weekend: The Celebrity Apprentice, Desperate Housewives , The Amazing Race Previews http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/21/iptv-weekend-the-celebrity-apprentice-desperate-housewives-the-amazing-race-previews/ http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/21/iptv-weekend-the-celebrity-apprentice-desperate-housewives-the-amazing-race-previews/#comments Sun, 21 Mar 2010 10:46:39 +0000 Murtz Jaffer http://tv.insidepulse.com/?p=180825

Hey everyone, I’m Murtz Jaffer, and welcome to the all new Inside Pulse TV Daily. Every day I’ll check in with a look at what’s hot in the world of IPTV, including previews, news, spoilers and much more.

What to watch tonight?
What should be on your nighttime TV radar – for good OR bad reasons.

SATURDAY

America’s Most Wanted (FOX) 9 p.m.
America’s Most Wanted continues its pursuit of justice.

Just celebrated a milestone episode.

48 Hours Mystery (CBS) 10 p.m.
College girl under suspicion after boyfriend commits murder.

Hoping one of my favorite shows gets better fast!

SUNDAY

The Amazing Race (CBS) 8 p.m.
The seven remaining teams continue on the sixth leg of the race.

After villains Joe & Heidi were eliminated, it will be interesting to see if the Race becomes nicer or even more mean-spirited…

Desperate Housewives (ABC) 9 p.m.
Angie’s ex-boyfriend, Patrick emerges after her trip to New York. Meanwhile it’s game on between Gaby and Susan, as they go to shameless lengths to top each other’s kids; Lynette believes there’s more to Preston’s fiance than she’s letting on; Bree invites Sam over for a family dinner; and Katherine comes out of the closet.

Katherine officially pronounces herself to be a lesbian!

The Celebrity Apprentice (NBC) 9 p.m.
In the second episode of the new season, each team must build out a storefront to re-launch Kodak’s famous Kodak Moments campaign; The men’s project manager is confronted by a team member who feels shut out by the team, while the women’s team is plagued by a celebrity illness, a power outage, and a teammate who is hard to handle.

After a great season premiere, it’s clear Trump and company are back. Remember when the Donald said that this week’s task wouldn’t come down to money? It clearly won’t as it’s a decorative assignment. I think the women will even things up.

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]]> http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/21/iptv-weekend-the-celebrity-apprentice-desperate-housewives-the-amazing-race-previews/feed/ 0 30 Rock – Episode 4-15 Review http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/19/30-rock-%e2%80%93-episode-4-15-review/ http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/19/30-rock-%e2%80%93-episode-4-15-review/#comments Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:06:36 +0000 Jason Wayne http://tv.insidepulse.com/?p=181011 Can a TV show plagiarize itself? “Don Geiss, America and Hope” is the second time this season that Tracy finds himself in trouble because someone wrote a book about him.  In “Into the Crevasse,” Liz steals Tracy’s life for her Dealbreakers book.  Also, both episodes end with pornos inspired by Liz. Did it work, though? Eh, kinda.

Let’s get the negative out of the way first. Like I previously mentioned, Tracy is dealing with the fallout of his ex-nanny writing a tell-all book. But in a Tiger Woods twist, it reveals that he is faithful to his wife and has never cheated. He starts to lose endorsements because he sponsors smutty products, so he holds an unsuccessful press conference to prove he is faithful to his striper mistress. It just felt like a long one-note joke with no real resolution.  Is the rest of the season going to have Tracy on a mission to cheat on his wife to restore his street cred? I hope not.

The rest of the episode was, mostly, more enjoyable.  Liz’s doomed relationship with Wesley is caught in a bitter monotonous cycle: They date, hate each other, and randomly run into each other again. Trying to find out why they wrote Future Husband/Wife in their respective phones, Liz and Wesley go back to ground zero, the dentist’s office, to see if they can reconstruct what they liked about each other.  As it turns out, it was nothing more than anesthetics-induced bonding. Again, this scene seemed a bit redundant – I mean, Liz was about to hump a plant under the influence of the anesthetics.  But we can chock it up as the audience being a few steps ahead of the characters.

Even after deleting each other’s names from their phones, Liz and Wesley continue to run into each other, convincing Wesley that the universe is bring them together to settle.  Liz, ultimately, defies the universe and does not settle for Wesley…For now.

Jack is dealing with both the acquisition of Kablevision and Don Geiss’ death.  While he is assured that his job is safe, his responsibilities are primarily to look good behind NBC’s new CEO. Kablevision does not produce anything, their money is primarily generated through porn.  This does not bode well for idea-man, Jack. But after sitting through yet another one of Liz’s I-don’t-understand-guys stories (before Geiss’ memorial, no less), Jack strikes gold: Porn for women – a semi-interactive channel of a man asking about a girl’s day and feelings and offering to listen to all her problems.

Although the episode felt a bit recycled, there were enough funny moments to keep it from being boring – Don Giess frozen in carbonite: Genius.  It also provided a Liz-appropriate resolution to the Wesley relationship. Still, I wish it was bit less predictable.
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]]> http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/19/30-rock-%e2%80%93-episode-4-15-review/feed/ 0 IPTV Friday: Who Do You Think You Are?, Kitchen Nightmares Previews http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/19/iptv-friday-who-do-you-think-you-are-kitchen-nightmares-previews/ http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/19/iptv-friday-who-do-you-think-you-are-kitchen-nightmares-previews/#comments Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:30:09 +0000 Murtz Jaffer http://tv.insidepulse.com/?p=180823

Hey everyone, I’m Murtz Jaffer, and welcome to the all new Inside Pulse TV Daily. Every day I’ll check in with a look at what’s hot in the world of IPTV, including previews, news, spoilers and much more.

What to read on IPTV Today
Check out all the great show recaps we have up today!

  • 24 – Episode 8-12 Review
  • The Office – Episode 6-20 Review
  • American Idol – Episode 9-23 Review
  • House – Episode 6-16 Review

    • What to watch tonight?
    What should be on your nighttime TV radar – for good OR bad reasons.

    Who Do You Think You Are? (NBC) 8 p.m.
    Since childhood, Lisa Kudrow (Friends) has known that her grandmother Gertrude had it tough. Gertrude’s mother, Meri, perished in the Holocaust. Lisa’s father recalls hearing about her death from a young Polish sailor, a cousin named Yuri who was last seen in New York in the late 1940s.

    Lisa Kudrow is featured this week and I hear her episode is the season’s best.

    ABC Sports Special: Thin Ice, Part 1 (ABC) 9 p.m.
    You thought the Olympics were exciting? Well, the Winter Games can’t be as intense as watching somebody skate on Thin Ice! We’re not speaking literally, of course. No, we’re talking about a brand new ice skating competition where the world’s greatest professional skaters compete for $220,000. Cool! Unless you fall on the ice. Then it’s cold. Confirmed competitors will include:
    Shizuka Arakawa, Japan, 2006 Olympic Champion
    Elena Berezhnaya, two-time World Champion and Olympic Co-Champion
    Shae-Lynn Bourne, Canada, 2003 World Champion ice dancer
    Marie-France Dubreuil of Canada, five-time Canadian National Ice Dancing Champion and two-time World silver medalist Stephane Lambiel, Switzerland’s World Champion, fresh from the Vancouver Olympics, where he came in 4th
    Patrice Lauzon, five-time Canadian National Champion and two-time World silver medalist as an ice dancer
    David Pelletier, Canada, 2001 World Champion, 2002 Olympic Champion as a pairs skater
    Jamie Salé, of Canada, 2001 World Champion, 2002 Olympic Champion as a pairs skater, and winner of the inaugural Battle of the Blades with partner Craig Simpson
    Michael Weiss, three-time U.S. National Champion and World bronze medalist
    John Zimmerman, three-time U.S. National Champion and World bronze medalist as a pairs skater

    Confirmed pairs are:
    Shae-Lynn Bourne / John Zimmerman
    Marie-France Dubreuil / Michael Weiss
    Jamie Salé / Patrice Lauzon
    Elena Berezhnaya / David Pelletier
    Shizuka Arakawa / Stephane Lambiel

    TONS of Canadians on this and I think former Survivor Elisabeth Hasselbeck is hosting!

    Kitchen Nightmares (FOX) 9 p.m.
    Chef Gordon Ramsay visits Mama Rita’s, a struggling Mexican restaurant in Newbury Park, CA; With a chaotic atmosphere in the kitchen and a lack of leadership from management, this restaurant faces foreclosure if Gordon is unable to help Laura’s cooking staff add some spice back into their business.

    I know I won’t be watching. Will you?

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    ]]>     http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/19/iptv-friday-who-do-you-think-you-are-kitchen-nightmares-previews/feed/ 0     FlashForward Recap 03/18/10: What did you see? http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/19/flashforward-recap-031810-what-did-you-see/ http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/19/flashforward-recap-031810-what-did-you-see/#comments Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:10:08 +0000 Lindsay Filz http://tv.insidepulse.com/?p=181005 Last night’s FlashForward recap will be held until Monday (3/22) since I’m away from my DVR for the weekend and I seriously need to watch it at least one, probably two, more times before I can cover everything.  Got highlights you want to discuss?  Questions you want answered? :)   Please leave ‘em in the comments.

    Have a great weekend!
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    ]]>     http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/19/flashforward-recap-031810-what-did-you-see/feed/ 0     24 - Episode 8-12 Review http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/24-episode-8-12-review/ http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/24-episode-8-12-review/#comments Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:37:04 +0000 Matt Basilo http://tv.insidepulse.com/?p=181003 From last week’s 24 column, courtesy of reader Michael L:

    I don’t know about you, but I’m about at the point where I hope that the Stephen Root character turns out to be a mole and just plain shoots Dana–preferably someplace painful–and hopefully sometime in the next episode. This subplot has reduced the overall IQ of this show quite a bit. Couldn’t she simply tell this parole officer that she is working for the government in the middle of a national security crisis and that she’ll get back to him tomorrow (later today?). At least she could try a bit harder.

    This is actually one of my biggest pet peeves as it relates to 24 and the Dana story arc in particular. As a viewer, we recognize that the main story arc has to be tied up in a neat little package within the day, but it still irks me when the show completely ignores its own gimmick – that this is a real-time hour of the day. I just find the urgency of this Dana/Kevin situation just too unbelievable. There are so many times that it would be perfectly reasonable for her to say “Can we talk about this tomorrow?” and for the person, no matter how much they need her assistance or services, to comply. I simply don’t believe that Kevin and his friend – a supposed hardened criminal – would risk such a potentially lucrative operation without any planning whatsoever.

    And then there’s Stephen Root’s character – who I’ll just refer to as the “parole officer” because I don’t want him to stick around long enough for me to bother to remember his name. Again, I just find this whole thing completely unbelievable. I don’t remember if he indicated how long Kevin has been missing, but I just don’t buy that he’d suddenly treat this situation with such urgency. Like, he absolutely HAS to meet with this woman at 3:00 in the morning? And considering that this guy apparently has the necessary connections to get the results of a finger print test for a crime that was only committed a few hours ago – is that even possible? – I have to wonder how he lost Kevin in the first place.

    And while I’m not trying to portray any of these people as exhibiting any sense of nobility, but I just don’t see any of them – even the petty thieves – harassing their golden goose in the midst of a national crisis. Everything about it just so forced and reeks of lazy writing. And the fact that the story arc sucks makes it even less forgivable.

    Alright, with that out of the way, I will admit that this episode continued the momentum of last week’s turning point. Actually, I found much of the episode rather exhilarating. And I’ll tell you that they did one thing really well, and that’s the attack on CTU. This is something we’ve already seen at least twice, but I still found myself invested. Actually, this episode did a fantastic job of showing how crucial CTU’s technological skills are in achieving their operations. Between their drones and call tracing and various other means of surveillance, it feels as if they wouldn’t have accomplished anything this past episode without all of these capabilities. So, while disarming CTU in order to fulfill their attempts at making an attack has been done before (numerous times), the situation really did seem dire. But I do hope that this attack wasn’t merely a convenient plot device to get Dana out of trouble.

    And, for what it’s worth, I’m grateful that I don’t have to note that a “main” villain was killed YET AGAIN. I actually thought it was a pretty good swerve. I do hope this means that the show has solidly settled on this band of bad guys, though.

    I’m going to also echo my sentiments from last week, where I noted how I’ve enjoyed the focus on the foreign political scandal. It’s a bit of a departure from the norm.

    So word on the street is that 24 won’t be picked up for another season (although there does seem to be a chance that NBC will pick it up). I’m a bit torn on this. On the one hand, I hate seeing a show go out on a negative note. If season 7 taught us anything, it’s that a phenomenal season can erase the memories of a dismal one. So part of me wants to see 24 return for a ninth season, so that it has an opportunity to go out on a positive note. But then you have a show like Heroes, which never does truly pick up steam after one poor season, and as a result is remembered as a disappointment instead of a hit show.

    Matt Basilo has been writing for Inside Pulse since April 2005, providing his insight into popular television shows such as Lost, 24, Heroes, and Smallville. Be sure to visit his blog at [a case of the blog] and follow him on Twitter.
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    ]]>     http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/24-episode-8-12-review/feed/ 2     The Office – Episode 6-20 Review http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/the-office-episode-6-20-review/ http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/the-office-episode-6-20-review/#comments Fri, 19 Mar 2010 01:33:01 +0000 Mike Trevino http://tv.insidepulse.com/?p=181000 On tonight’s “New Leads”, Sabre’s “sales is king” policy get to the salespeoples’ heads and Michael decides to hide their new, prized leads.

    The sales staff eagerly awaits new sales lead information to come in from corporate. Sabre has been spoiling its sales team by giving them free bluetooth headsets and other merchandise, making them arrogant and disrespectful of the rest of the office. Darryl confronts Michael about the sales department being out of control, telling him that they are responsible for Michael’s squished sandwich in the refrigerator. When the leads finally come in, Michael decides to withhold the information until they decide to change their attitudes.

    Gabe implores Michael to give out the expensive leads, telling him that he does indeed have power; that is, “the power to support the sales staff”. Michael, now even more agitated, decides to hand out the leads to everyone who is not a sales person instead. When Jim politely requests his leads, he instead gets a stack of clues from Michael which indicate where in the business park he has hidden the leads.

    Jim calls Pam, getting some help with his clues while Angela forces clerical work onto Phyllis for hers. Dwight’s own search for his share of the leads lands him in an empty dumpster, with Michael realizing that he put the information in the trash on the wrong day of the week.

    Michael proposes that they all go to the dump and start digging. When everyone declines the trip, Dwight agrees to go because Michael “will just screw it up”. Michael and Dwight have an aggressive trash fight at the dump while Jim tries to ease the tensions between the salespeople and the rest of the office. Jim suggests that they bribe everyone back into liking them. While the salespeople were prepared to offer 2% of their commission, Oscar starts thanking them prematurely for the spread of pastries in the conference room…much to the relief of the sales team.

    Michael and Dwight’s fight ends with Michael dropping a sink full of water on his lap. They sit and marvel at the thought of a flower blooming in the middle of the dump and return to the office with a new beanbag.

    The episode ends with Erin and Andy at the dump, looking for the leads and sharing their first kiss.
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    ]]>     http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/the-office-episode-6-20-review/feed/ 0     IPTV Exclusive: Reality Obsessed Preview For Tonight http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/iptv-exclusive-reality-obsessed-preview-for-tonight-6/ http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/iptv-exclusive-reality-obsessed-preview-for-tonight-6/#comments Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:13:25 +0000 Murtz Jaffer http://tv.insidepulse.com/?p=180991 Another fresh episode of my show, Reality Obsessed tonight.

    In this one, I determine how crazy is too crazy for reality television by employing my banana meter.

    The episode preview is:

    Reality TV thrives on outrageous characters and it seems like the nuttier the better. But, when you lock extreme characters up in the America’s Next Top Model, the Bachelor, Real World or Big Brother house, how do you guarantee they’re crazy enough to provide juicy entertainment but won’t kill each other. What is the process to determine casting those stranded on Survivor make great reality TV, but don’t snap? And where is the sanity middle ground when you are filtering through reality show participants? What is normal and where does crazy begin and end? Murtz tracks down reality stars, casting directors and even a reality therapist to find the perfect formula for crazy but not too crazy. And if being on TV means you have to be a little bit crazy – does Murtz have a little case of the nuts?

    My guest stars include:

    - Jonny Fairplay (Survivor Pearl Islands)
    - Trishelle Cannatella (Real World Vegas)
    -Ayiiia Elizarraras (Real World Cancun
    - Lisa D’Amato (America’s Next Top Model Cycle 5)
    - Robyn Kass (Casting Agent For Big Brother)
    - Matt Antrim (Casting Agent For Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader)

    It airs on TVTropolis in Canada at 7 PM.

    Here’s an EXCLUSIVE clip!
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    ]]>     http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/iptv-exclusive-reality-obsessed-preview-for-tonight-6/feed/ 0     American Idol Spoilers: What Is Theme For Top 11? Get Ready Teeny-Boppers! http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/american-idol-spoilers-what-is-theme-for-top-11-get-ready-teeny-boppers/ http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/american-idol-spoilers-what-is-theme-for-top-11-get-ready-teeny-boppers/#comments Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:15:26 +0000 Murtz Jaffer http://tv.insidepulse.com/?p=180988 The theme for next week’s Idol has been revealed: Teen Idols.

    This would supposedly include hits by current teenagers such as Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift, the Jonas Brothers, as well as teen idols of the past, from Hanson, to the boy band brigade of Backstreet Boys, N’ Sync and New Kids on the Block.

    It would appear Katie Stevens is at a major advantage.
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    ]]>     http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/american-idol-spoilers-what-is-theme-for-top-11-get-ready-teeny-boppers/feed/ 0     Survivor Heroes vs. Villains Spoilers: Double Elimination On Wednesday’s Episode http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/survivor-heroes-vs-villains-spoilers-double-elimination-on-wednesdays-episode/ http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/survivor-heroes-vs-villains-spoilers-double-elimination-on-wednesdays-episode/#comments Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:57:50 +0000 widro http://tv.insidepulse.com/?p=180984 The episode logline for the next new episode of Survivor has come out and it confirms a double elimination.

    Wednesday, March 24 – 8pm ET/PT
    “Banana Etiquette”
    When the castaways discover that two people will be sent packing in a rare double elimination, everyone scrambles to save their own skin. Then, one castaway surprises everyone and risks it all at tribal council.

    The episode is airing a day early because of CBS’ NCAA March Madness Tournament on Thursday.
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    ]]>     http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/survivor-heroes-vs-villains-spoilers-double-elimination-on-wednesdays-episode/feed/ 0     IPTV Thursday: Flash Forward, The Office , 30 Rock Previews http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/iptv-thursday-flash-forward-the-office-30-rock-previews/ http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/iptv-thursday-flash-forward-the-office-30-rock-previews/#comments Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:24:40 +0000 Murtz Jaffer http://tv.insidepulse.com/?p=180821

    Hey everyone, I’m Murtz Jaffer, and welcome to the all new Inside Pulse TV Daily. Every day I’ll check in with a look at what’s hot in the world of IPTV, including previews, news, spoilers and much more.

    What to read on IPTV Today

    Another big slate of show recaps, check these out:

  • American Idol Episode 9-23 Review by our Idol expert Joe Corey
  • House Episode 6-16 Review by Teresa Murray

    • What to watch tonight?
    What should be on your nighttime TV radar – for good OR bad reasons.

    FlashForward (ABC) 8 p.m.
    While Demetri teams up with CIA agent Vogel to track down Lloyd; Mark must meet with a therapist to get back his badge; Meanwhile, Janis investigates Simon.

    Part of me just wants to flash forward to the end of this series but at the same time, this is the first time Survivor won’t be on in awhile because of the NCAA March Madness tournament and as a result, ABC made a wise decision to bring it back tonight.

    The Office (NBC) 9 p.m.
    When the sales staff lets Sabre’s new “sales is king” policy get to their heads, Michael hides their new, prized leads.

    Should be a good one as we await the infamous Andy date.

    30 Rock (NBC) 9:30 p.m.
    Liz Lemon keeps running into Wesley (guest star Michael Sheen), forcing them to question their decision, while Jack Donaghy tries to establish himself with the new cable company.

    With no American Idol, Survivor, Grey’s Anatomy, or Private Practice, on tonight, expect huge numbers for NBC which only means a bigger audience for Tina Fey and company.

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    ]]>     http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/iptv-thursday-flash-forward-the-office-30-rock-previews/feed/ 0     American Idol – Episode 9-23 Review http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/american-idol-episode-9-23-review/ http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/american-idol-episode-9-23-review/#comments Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:46:13 +0000 Joe Corey http://tv.insidepulse.com/?p=180960 Didn’t they used to only have a half hour episode results show when they had to dump one kid? Does it really take this long to separate one of them from the pack? Animal Planet doesn’t take this long to show a wildebeest baby get torn apart by a pack of lions. Of course they don’t have Kei$a playing in the jungle.

    The show opens black and white as we see the Top 12 guys get their golden tickets. One of them will get to see their highlights again at the end of the episode. This night will be one giant fluff job with lots of highlights before Ryan breaks a dream with a few words normally reserved for his back waxer. The Irish lighting director turns all the spotlights green for St. Patrick’s Day. On the judges table, Ellen has decided to go without the scarf. She needs to keep her neck covered to fake her youth. Simon is pissed that Ryan got in his face last night. He was made uncomfortable. Simon asks if Ryan wants his job as if any threadbare t-shirt dork couldn’t lie about the talent of his lame picks? Why not let Ryan takeover from Capt. Teletubby? Not like Simon is doing that much in his chair except countdown to X Factor. Simon keeps telling Ryan to step back. He really must have felt threatened to bring this up on camera. Or maybe can’t handle Ryan’s breath? Simon reminds us that the judges can save someone from elimination until the final five are named. With the way they’ve been pushing certain barely talented competitors, the save will be used early.

    David Cook is brought on for “Jumping Jack Flash.” He won two years ago and promptly was squeezed into a Johnny Bravo jacket by various producers. He’s rather forgettable with this cover. It’s almost something he’d do as a time killer during a concert. At least it’s not as lame as watching Phish cover Genesis at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

    Ryan has the dozen kids on the couch. He gives us the Ford commercial done to a Killers’ song. They’re playing paintball while driving cars. That’s not safe. Although the cover of the Killers is extremely safe. Now they turn into a complete infomerical mode with the kids designing their own Ford Fiestas. Enough selling us cars. They’ve got the three stools of doom on the other side of the set. Paige Davis is the first to stand up. Her gender bending version of “Honky Tonk Women” bought her a trip to the stools. That’s what happens when he blows your mind. Lee DeWyze gets grilled about working on being better. But he’s safe so it doesn’t matter. Siobhan Magnus stands up to be described as Snooki’s poof. Simon doesn’t know Snooki. Way to prove you’re not contemporary. Ellen thinks she’s unique and can break out like Adam Lambert. Does that mean she’ll be working bisexually on the stage next week? We’ll find out since she’s safe. Aaron Kelly gets compared to Ellen’s hairdo. The Disney American Idol Experience winner is safe. Andrew Garcia and Tim Urban stand up together. Someone is going to the stools. Kara says after watching the show on TV, they both deserve the bottom slot. Amazingly enough, it’s Tim Urban and not the equally bad Andrew Garcia.

    We go to the break with Paige Davis and Tim Urban on the stools. How did America “love” Andrew Garcia into at least 9th place? They bring out a Suzi Quatro-esque singer – guitarist called Orianthi to perform “According to You.” She was the guitarist for Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” shows. She’s managed by 19, the folks who sign all the kiddies on American Idol. This is corporate synergy. She’s only performing tonight because Michael Jackson died. Otherwise she’s be living in London for a year for all Jacko’s O2 arena shows. At least she had a better fall back gig than most rockers that become unemployed because their pop idol goes pop.

    Didi Benami is the first up from the sofa. She’s flustered while talking with Ryan. Her mom gets told it is good new tonight. Her daughter has another week to torture us. Crystal Bowersox is next. She’s got Lily’s good luck feather over her ear. Ryan hints there will be Barry Manilow night. Crystal might have to stick around for that nightmare. She’s safe. Katie Stevens is up. Did she really connect with “Wild Horses?” Isn’t that about uncut heroin that Keith RIchards was digging? How did Katie connect? Kara brings up the pitch issues. Simon wants her to do more country stuff. Randy wants her to be pop. Ellen suggests mariachi. Katie is safe after clowntime ceases. Michael Lynche fills up the widescreen as he stands up. He gets to avoid the empty stool. Casey James and Lacey Brown go shoulder to shoulder. Ryan chats with Casey and sends Lacey to the middle of the stage. The lower three are Lacey Brown, Tim Urban and Paige Davis. Ryan asks Ellen about using the save on one of them. She can’t give an answer. Simon says one of them is worth saving.

    
Ryan ends the frustration for one of the basement trio. Tim Urban is sent back to the couch. The Vote for the Worst Crowd breaths a sense of relief.

    Kei$a tramps it up on stage with “Blah Blah Blah.” That’s an Iggy Pop album title. When will they have Iggy Pop night? The pop tart is semi-Gaga in her outfit than the trailer trash that worked in the “Tik Tok” video. The male dancers wear TV monitors on their heads. It’s like Mummenschanz with cable. These two lame rappers interrupt the song. They look like lost valets. Kei$a returns with an Indian headdress. She must be auditioning for the new Village People. It’s a delightful mess. When will she do a cameo on Breaking Bad?

    
Ryan dims the light as Didi and Pagie clutch each other with fear. Ryan reminds Randy that this was supposed to be a girl’s year and the bottom two are ladies. Randy’s not surprised. Lacey Brown is cut. Paige Miles returns to the sofa. Lacey sings “The Story” for that second chance. Are they really going to burn it this fast? She’s a little pitchy as the judges huddle behind the table and whisper away. How are they supposed to really listen to this last minute begging for a dream to continue? Naturally the crowd goes nuts. They don’t want an execution. Simon says they unanimously decided to not save Lacey. She’s tossed into the ash heap of Idol history. There will be no summer tour for her in major arenas. She’s excited for the future as they run a montage of her dream getting inflated and popped.
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    ]]>     http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/american-idol-episode-9-23-review/feed/ 5     House – Episode 6-16 Review http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/house-%e2%80%93-episode-6-16-review/ http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/house-%e2%80%93-episode-6-16-review/#comments Thu, 18 Mar 2010 08:06:23 +0000 Teresa Murray http://tv.insidepulse.com/?p=180965 Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard

    Cr. Mike Yarish/FOX
    Hugh Laurie & Robert Sean Leonard

    “Black Hole” is the 16th episode of the season and it seems very much like a continuation of last week’s episode “Private Lives.” The stage turns slightly in this one putting the spotlight on Taub with his guilty conscience and trust issues. House is still pulling the strings: Wilson’s and Taub’s this time. To some extent that’s always been his MO, but his fascination with Taub’s private life (and Wilson’s also to some extent) seems more thoughtful now, as if he were searching for an answer not only to their motivations and characters, but to his own. Themes of betrayal and forgiveness echo in the patient’s story and Taub’s, then in Wilson’s brief scene with Cuddy. Excellent performances by the regular cast all around.

    I also enjoyed seeing Dennis Boutsikaris, who plays Nick’s dad Artie, the patient’s boyfriend’s father/patient’s illicit parasite infested one night stand. He is a favorite character actor of mine who specializes in playing slick lawyers and evil doctors. I had an “a-ha” moment as soon as I saw his face. It wasn’t difficult to put the clues together. Clue number one: he has a lot of frequent flier miles. Clue number two: the father of a patient’s boyfriend wouldn’t be at the hospital unless he was significantly involved, especially not if he’s Dennis Boutsikaris.

    So it turns out, at least for me, that the medical case is not much of a mystery. That doesn’t detract from the episode. I think the case is primarily meant to parallel Taub’s quest for his wife’s trust and forgiveness. And all of it echoes House plea in last week’s episode: “Trust me.”

    “A little more vodka and you might find out some more things you didn’t know about me.”

    The episode opening at the planetarium looked pretty cool. (Although I have to admit that the silence of space screwed with my head a little and I futzed around with the volume a while before I figured it out.) I was pleasantly reminded of the “Planetarium” episode of South Park. (In fact I can’t hear the word planetarium without thinking of it. If you’ve seen it, I think you know what I mean.) Abby (Cali Fredrichs) and Nick (Mick Eversman), two senior honor students are surreptitiously drinking vodka in the back row and discussing their future. He’s Stanford/West Coast bound. She’s worried that he’ll be too far away. After the instructor (Sunil Malhutra) questions her about drinking in the theater, Nick observes that Abby is a good liar. (He doesn’t know how well yet.) A moment later, Nick notices that Abby is not breathing and she’s literally foaming from the mouth. He calls for help.

    The scene has some very nice touches. Off of the teacher’s dialogue “95 billion light years across” Abby comes in with “You’ll be so far away.” Off of “We can only observe 4% of the Universe. The rest of it is unaccounted for.” Nick says that Abby’s a good liar. He only knows one side of her. The rest is unaccounted for. I also think the sound effect, which they usually use for those cool shots where they zoom inside a patient, is interestingly used to zoom out at the end of the scene to a shot of the solar system and then into the main credits.

    “Buy some furniture or admit you’re empty inside.”

    At the still sparsely furnished condo, Wilson complains about House eating on the couch. (Judging from last week’s episode, he’s done much worse than that on the couch.) House tells him to get a table. Wilson doesn’t seem too keen on furniture shopping. House thinks he’s afraid to do it, and even though Wilson dismisses the idea, he insists that Wilson should buy furniture.

    At the office, before House or Taub have arrived, the rest of the team discusses Abby’s case. When House gets there he’s somewhat more interested in Taub’s whereabouts than he is in the patient’s well being. He assumes, rightly, that Taub is at home fighting with his wife, even though Taub has called in with a flat tire excuse. One thing we can almost always be sure of in the first differential, nobody has the right answer and somebody’s going to suggest drugs/alcohol and an MRI, which they do while Taub is in his bedroom arguing with his wife (Jennifer Crystal Foley) about yoga couple’s classes. She thinks they should spend more time together. The subtext, which Thirteen later spells out for him, is that Rachel thinks given enough unsupervised time he might cheat on her again.

    Eventually Taub makes it into the hospital and before he’s had a chance to familiarize himself with the new case, he’s confronted by the patient’s boyfriend, Nick who is accompanied by his father, asking about her condition. He says they’re running tests. Nick asks him to tell Abby he loves her. He seems touched by the request and he delivers the message, after apologizing to Chase for being late. She also seems touched and happy when she gets the message even though she’s in a big scary MRI machine. It’s really a nice moment and establishes a bond between Taub and the patient, who he’ll later learn shares his guilt over having been unfaithful.

    Taub tries to run his marital problems past Chase who doesn’t think he’s qualified to give advice. (Anyone else notice Chase is growing a stubbly beard very much like House’s? Is he fulfilling Cameron’s gloom prophecy and turning into House?) During the MRI they notice a dark spot in her heart. This leads to another differential where they speculate that the spot might be fungus. Foreman says that blood tests rule out fungus and parasites (that’s because it’s parasites but not parasites.) House is still more concerned with Taub’s marital problems.

    I have a theory on why House finds Taub’s rather prosaic domestic situation so fascinating. He wants to know if Taub can change enough to successfully give up adultery. If so, then there’s a chance that he too can change enough to stay off the Vicodin permanently and find a little happiness. His philosophy has always been that people don’t change. He wants that not to be true.

    Thirteen suggests that they do a Transeosopha… watchamacallit to get a better idea of what they’re dealing with, because it wouldn’t be right to go through a whole episode without shoving something down the patient’s throat. Thirteen has no problem giving Taub marital advice (“It’s not about the yoga”) while they do the echo. Predictably, the test goes horribly wrong and Abby’s heart valve ruptures. They rush her into surgery and shock her a few times before Thirteen’s heart massage does the trick and brings the patient back.

    “Not my fault. I was busy judging Taub.”

    In the next differential, Thirteen suggests that Abby may be having an allergic reaction to her boyfriend’s semen. They run with that. They ask Nick for a sample when he admits that under very particular circumstances he didn’t use a condom. His father is there and seemingly concerned about Nick and his love life. They run a scratch test. Abby is not allergic to Nick’s semen, but she does begin to writhe in pain and pee blood. That can only mean one thing. That’s right: kidney failure.

    House shoots down a few more theories before he agrees to do a full body scan even though, “We hate full body scans.” Taub and Foreman do the scan. Taub seeks advice from Foreman on how to make his wife trust him. Foreman? Really? How desperate is he? Although, this exchange does lead into a nice segue: “You don’t think I want my wife too be happy?”

    “Sure, as long as it makes you happy.”

    House enters the condo and finds it completely furnished. Wilson thinks it’s “not bad” and he wants to know what House thinks. “Not bad at all,” he says, clearly meaning he thinks it’s not good.

    Abby’s scan is going badly. She hallucinates falling into a black hole.

    “We know nothing. Brain knows all.”

    They have yet another differential back in the office, during which both House and Taub do a little multi tasking. In an effort to spend more time with his wife, Taub is texting her while he’s working. House is watching him while the rest of the team bats around theories. From Rachel’s perspective at a grocery store the texts continue and become more risqué. Back in the office we see House has taken over the phone and the texts in an effort to “help” Taub. “You’re texting does not prove you’re faithful. It just proves that you know she thinks you’re unfaithful. You can’t force trust.”

    Now that he’s delivered that bit of wisdom it’s down to business. “What did she hallucinate?”

    He thinks the content of her hallucination may give them clues to her illness. He wants to try the Cognitive Pattern Recognition Program. Everyone looks at him likes he’s nuts. Foreman calls it science fiction (a “mind reading machine”) and suggests they do an MRA with contrast instead. (You’d think a neurologist would be just a tad more excited about playing with this kind of cutting edge neurological equipment. Go figure.) House agrees, but thinks it will fail at which point he gets to do his “Crazy, but possible” test.

    Wilson comes back from a run and discovers all the furniture is gone. He later confronts House in the cafeteria. House admits he returned it because he figured out Wilson had just rented it. “No clue what it even met,” he tells him. Wilson wants to use a decorator, but House insists he buy at least one thing.

    Nick is by Abby’s bedside when she regains consciousness. They kiss and he proposes to her, but she begins to hallucinate. She sees her younger self admonishing her about a secret she should tell Nick. “Your secret is killing you,” says the younger Abby. She has a seizure.

    “Also I’m going to need to check your spare.”

    So now that the MRA has failed, House gets to do his magic trick, the CPR Program. He has Foreman, who’s the only team member clearly not on board with the idea, ask for consent from the patient and her mother.

    Taub uses this time to take his wife to his car in the parking lot for a quickie. They kiss and he asks her to trust him. House interrupts, tapping his cane on the window, and invites Taub to the “real cool magic show”. They attach electrode-ish stuff to Abby’s head and flash a bunch images on a screen and then ask Abby to visualize a single image. She thinks of Nick playing baseball and sure enough an image comes through on the screen, effectively reading her mind.

    Most of the team is very impressed. Except Foreman. “Does anything get you excited?” asks Chase. (Nope. He had a hot bisexual and he blew it. I guess it’s hard to bounce back from that.)

    “Anyone ever tell you, you can be a real buzz kill?”
    “Yes!”

    Wilson goes furniture shopping. He’s very bad at it. Funny stuff. The whole process is very reminiscent of the bed shopping he did with Amber in season four. When asked to please himself, he’s lost. He’s just more comfortable pleasing who he’s with: in this case House.

    At the hospital Abby is hooked to machine for phase two. They watch her dream. House is now in attendance. Her subconscious is dominated by images of the moon and the stars and the sky. Foreman points out that it’s not unusual that a physics student would think of those things. She also sees a male figure in her dreams who they guess is her dead dad. They’re no closer to the right answer.

    Wilson goes to see Cuddy about his furniture shopping dilemma. Not too smart, since he’s furnishing the condo he bought out from under her. Lucky for him she’s willing to let bygones be bygones. “I know you bought the place I wanted. You’re a jerk. Let’s move on. Hire a decorator,” she tells him and adds that “You know what says even more about who you are than your furniture? The fact that you are letting House tell you how to buy furniture.”

    Bless her heart: she said just what I was thinking.

    House is studying Abby’s brain images when Foreman enters with the latest failed test results. There are signs of an allergic reaction, but no allergy. Foreman starts to give basically the right answer: “There’s this Middle Eastern parasite….” but House shoots it down, because Abby hasn’t been to the Middle East and they haven’t found any parasites. Two objections he’ll be able to get around soon.

    “You’re going to have to buy your own cape.”

    Alone in the X-ray room, House contemplates the case. When Taub drops in to say goodnight, House cuts straight to the chase and asks him if he’s been having an affair. Taub denies it and denies wanting to have an affair. House wonders is it “because you now really are old enough to be their…” He doesn’t finish expressing the thought before a major medical epiphany gets in the way. The father figure in the patient’s visions is her boyfriend’s dad. He confronts Nick’s father outside Abby’s hospital room and asks him if he’s traveled abroad. When he admits he’s traveled to the Mediterranean area for work, House explains that Abby is having an allergic reaction to the itty bitty shells of an Egyptian parasite that was in his semen. He says unless Nick’s dad confesses he’s had sex with Abby she’ll die. To his credit he does admit it rather than let that happen. (I’m pretty sure had he not House would have gone ahead with the treatment in any case.)

    House returns to the now refurnished condo. He can tell Wilson used a decorator and accuses him of wussing out. “You can’t keep letting other people define you.” Considering what an overbearing presence House is in Wilson’s furniture shopping in particular and his life in general, that’s deeply ironic. House sees a piece of furniture covered with a sheet. There’s a nifty bit of camera work with Wilson going out of focus in the background and House sharply in focus in the foreground. House pulls the sheet away to reveal an organ (the musical kind: not a kidney or a liver.) He knows Wilson picked it out. He knows Wilson picked it out for him. “I like what this says about you, Wilson,” he says as he plays it.

    He plays the beginning strains of Procol Harum’s “Whiter Shade of Pale” which we then hear over the action as Abby is being treated, Nick is talking to his dad, and Taub and Rachel look at their wedding album. Taub takes the opportunity to tell her she’s the love of his life and he proposes. She points out that they’re already married “I want to be better at it,” he tells her. Later we see Taub talking to Nick who than goes into Abby’s room.

    House wants to know what Taub said to Nick. He told him that it (infidelity) didn’t mean she didn’t love him. Taub thinks she does. House asks Taub if she (Rachel) said yes. She did. “Good for you,” House tells him with very rare genuine sincerity, but when he sees Taub talking to an attractive young female doctor moments later, he still seems to doubt that Taub is faithful.

    Regarding this final scene: I don’t think that we’re supposed to think that Taub is actually cheating with the young woman, just that House thinks that he might potentially do so. Despite Taub’s apparent sincerity House isn’t sure he’s overcome his baser instincts. He’s not sure it’s possible for anyone.
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    ]]>     http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/house-%e2%80%93-episode-6-16-review/feed/ 0     TimmyStrikesBack.com – Rules of Engagement Blog http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/timmystrikesback-com-rules-of-engagement-blog/ http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/timmystrikesback-com-rules-of-engagement-blog/#comments Thu, 18 Mar 2010 06:21:24 +0000 widro http://tv.insidepulse.com/?p=180981

    Everyone dreams of getting back at their tyrannical boss; who doesn’t get tired of the micro-managing and the constant meddling?

    Timmy, the lovable assistant to Russell Dunbar from “Rules of Engagement” has created a place for people to sound off about the people who have made their lives and living hell: http://TimmyStrikesBack.com

    In Timmy’s latest blog post, lovable assistant Timmy details his top 5 tips for surviving a trip to Atlantic City (which is especially funny if you saw this past Monday’s show).

    In my world travels, I’ve seen shanty towns of such immense poverty that Mother Teresa would break down in tears. I mean even now, when she’s dead. I’ve seen landfills so vast they resembled oceans and toxic waste facilities so wretched that no mammal dared near. Not until this past weekend, however, could I have foreseen a place so destitute, so decrepit, that it would feature all three. And then I went to Atlantic City.

    .
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    ]]>     http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/timmystrikesback-com-rules-of-engagement-blog/feed/ 1     American Idol Results: Lacey Brown Goes Home, Simon Cowell Warns Ryan Seacrest To Back Off http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/17/american-idol-results-lacey-brown-goes-home-simon-cowell-warns-ryan-seacrest-to-back-off/ http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/17/american-idol-results-lacey-brown-goes-home-simon-cowell-warns-ryan-seacrest-to-back-off/#comments Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:01:01 +0000 Murtz Jaffer http://tv.insidepulse.com/?p=180958 The first Top 12 results show was just as explosive as you might think it would be even though the contestant who left didn’t really surprise anyone.

    The show opened with a weird confrontation between host Ryan Seacrest and judge Simon Cowell, and while it appeared they were joking with each other, it certainly seemed veiled in some degree of reality.

    “Want to get the eyeballing out of the way?” he pointedly asked Ryan Seacrest at the start of Wednesday’s show, criticizing the Idol host for his “aggressive behavior” last night. (Indeed, Ryan has been going to bat for the scorned contestants more often this season.)

    “I just thought that you needed to be a bit more constructive with them,” Ryan replied.

    “Do you want my job?” Simon asked. “Because it felt like an audition.”

    The pair eventually settled, but not before Cowell offered the host a warning.

    “We’re friends, right? Just don’t ever do it again,” Cowell said.

    The bottom three was no surprise as it included Paige Miles, Tim Urban and Lacey Brown.

    The 24-year-old from Amarillo, Texas, was eliminated.

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    ]]>     http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/17/american-idol-results-lacey-brown-goes-home-simon-cowell-warns-ryan-seacrest-to-back-off/feed/ 4     Survivor Heroes vs Villains News: Jeff Probst Explains Why He Was Hard On Colby In The Reward Challenge http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/17/survivor-heroes-vs-villains-news-jeff-probst-explains-why-he-was-hard-on-colby-in-the-reward-challenge/ http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/17/survivor-heroes-vs-villains-news-jeff-probst-explains-why-he-was-hard-on-colby-in-the-reward-challenge/#comments Thu, 18 Mar 2010 02:53:48 +0000 widro http://tv.insidepulse.com/?p=180954 In his Entertainment Weekly blog, Survivor host Jeff Probst explained why he was a little edgy with his pal Colby at the reward challenge and said it had nothing to do with their personal relationship.

    “The part that I’m sure a lot of you are talking about was my interaction with Colby when he instructed me, in no uncertain terms, to get the challenge started.

    To which I replied:

    Probst: “I got the message brother, and we’ll go when I’m ready.”

    Don’t go reading too much into it. I was merely holding my ground as host, nothing more. I would have had the same response to anybody who attempted to tell me what to do. Because like it or not… “We WILL go… when I’M ready.” That’s what 20 seasons and the title of host gets you. The ability to go when you’re damn good and ready and not a moment before.

    SIDE NOTE:
    Oh, and one more bit of housekeeping from last week’s blog. I read many of your comments implying that I was hard on “America’s Favorite Survivor” Rupert because I was trying to save my buddy, Colby.
    Let me be really clear about a few things:

    1. The first time I had seen Colby in several years was at the start of Heroes v Villains. I have no more loyalty to Colby than anybody else.

    2. If I wanted to, do you really think I could influence a vote by asking a simple and legit question? You think these players are so easily influenced?

    3. If I could indeed influence the game, do you think I would risk losing a job that allows me to buy beautiful outdoor patio cushions by doing so?

    Get a clue. Buy a vowel. Phone a friend. Whatever it takes, but pull your head out.

    Probst also discussed why he was hard on fan favorite Rupert.

    “I was hard on Rupert because his logic made no sense. He was clearly voting with an alliance and trying to convince me he was voting based on keeping the tribe strong. Every Survivor knows I ask tough questions. That’s my job. He could have answered any number of other ways and got me off his back. He didn’t. Rupert dug his own hole, all I did was offer him the shovel.”

    To read the rest of Jeff’s blog, just click here

    Credit: EW.com
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    ]]>     http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/17/survivor-heroes-vs-villains-news-jeff-probst-explains-why-he-was-hard-on-colby-in-the-reward-challenge/feed/ 0     Flash Forward Spoilers: Will Demetri Live Or Die? Suspect Zero’s Identity To Be Revealed http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/17/flashforward-spoilers-will-demetri-live-or-die-suspect-zeros-identity-to-be-revealed/ http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/17/flashforward-spoilers-will-demetri-live-or-die-suspect-zeros-identity-to-be-revealed/#comments Thu, 18 Mar 2010 02:43:37 +0000 Murtz Jaffer http://tv.insidepulse.com/?p=180952 With FlashForward returning on Thursday to ABC, it’s time to find out what’s coming up on the show.

    Jack Davenport (who plays Lloyd on the show) confirms that the program will answer many of its questions before the season is over, in a move that separates it from Lost and also allows the show to be cancelled without leaving fans to upset (if ABC does decide to pull the plug).

    The mysteries that will be solved include:

    - Why the blackout happened?

    - Who is the man in the stadium?

    - Will Demetri live?

    The show will also explore Janis’ desire to have a baby and Simon’s family life.

    Credit: E! Online
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    ]]>     http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/17/flashforward-spoilers-will-demetri-live-or-die-suspect-zeros-identity-to-be-revealed/feed/ 0     Amy Poehler Pregnant Again; Not Expected To Be Written Into Parks & Recreation http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/17/amy-poehler-pregnant-again-not-expected-to-be-written-into-parks-recreation/ http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/17/amy-poehler-pregnant-again-not-expected-to-be-written-into-parks-recreation/#comments Thu, 18 Mar 2010 02:36:18 +0000 Murtz Jaffer http://tv.insidepulse.com/?p=180950 A rep for Amy Poehler has confirmed that the Parks & Recreation star is pregnant with her second child.

    This is part of the reason NBC chose to pick up the show early. They wanted to accommodate Poehler’s schedule.

    An NBC rep says, “We’ll continue production of season three as soon as production of season two concludes. And we’ll be back next season with new episodes.”

    Credit: E! Online
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