SPECULATIONS ON THE FINALE OF HOUSE M.D. (21 May)

 Amber Tamblyn, House  No Responses »
Apr 282012
 

Martha Masters (Amber Tamblyn) relegates House to the background.

Amber Tamblyn dozing on the set of HOUSE

“I couldn’t compete with the sun in your fashion
glistening in its hairline like sweat
from a long constipated set.
I’ve heard how those black holes love
Taking back compliments.”

That’s from the poem BANG DITTO from the book BANG DITTO by Amber Tamblyn.

Yes, she will appear in the finale of HOUSE, briefly, as Martha Masters. Possibly she will turn up in a dream sequence. (If so the dream must belong to House. None of the current supporting cast on the show has enough imagination for a dream like that, and some have never met her.)

Kal Penn's suicidal character may utter the title line in the finale of House (it's a theory)

I have it on good authority that there will be no Cuddy.

Will House marry the Russian, kill 13, cure Wilson, or run off with Cameron to Storybrooke? Or will he wake from the dream he is having involving all these folk to find himself doing sketch comedy with Stephen Fry?

The last episode is titled Everybody Dies. House did promise to kill 13 if she asked him to, and 13 will be in the final two episodes. Wilson has cancer as of last week. But I doubt that the show will have a Hamlet-like conclusion. More than likely, Dr. Kutner (Kal Penn) will appear to House in a vicodin-induced hallucination and answer House’s demand for an explanation of his suicide with the title line.

Everyone dies.

THE TEN BEST THINGS I SAW (or heard) FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2011

 Amber Tamblyn, Brittany Robertson, Ellen Fox, film, House, Music, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Swans Crossing, Xena, Zoey Deutch  No Responses »
Dec 222011
 

#10 – ZOEY DEUTCH

Zoey Deutch in a scene from RINGER. Deutch is the daughter of Lea Thompson.

Playing the step-daughter of Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ioan Gruffudd in the CW’s RINGER, Zoey Deutch is the biggest scene-stealer since Renee O’Connor as Gabrielle in Xena:Warrior Princess. Deutch also made her film debut this year in MAYOR CUPCAKE, a film which also starred her mother Lea Thompson, and her sister Madelyn.

#9 – FAUX BABY

Title card for Faux Baby

Well it’s older than a year, but I found it in 2011. FAUX BABY is a 6-episode 2008 webseries with Missy Yager (of MAD MEN) as a potential mom who is given a robot baby to raise as a test. It’s great speculative fiction, and has a great cast including Lucas Bryant and Laura Salvato. I ran across this researching SWANS CROSSING, in which Salvato appeared briefly in 1992.

#8 – THE SMOKE FAIRIES

Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies - The Smoke Fairies

Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies are The Smoke Fairies, a British duo that do a bluesy Celtic folk that has flashes of brilliance. They had two separate US tours this year, and did a great video for their song HOTEL ROOM.

#7 – MACHINE GIRL

Machine Girl - Japanese bionic woman

This is also from 2008, and I stumbled across this movie recently on Netflix. MACHINE GIRL is a very strange and surprisingly entertaining tale of revenge. Lots of blood and gore, but the effects are so implausible that it’s funny. If you’ve ever asked the question: What if the BIONIC WOMAN had been Japanese?, this might be the answer.

#6 – EYE OPENER TV

Ellen Fox on the set of Eye Opener TV

Where Ellen Fox (formerly of Rotten Tomatoes) works now. This is a great morning show (at least what I have been able to see of it. It is on CW stations in only a few cities (Dallas is one of them) right now, but clips are available online.

#5 – ECO-RICO

The opening scene of Eco-Rico with Giselle Achecar

An energetic and entertaining eco-friendly cooking and lifestyle web program hosted by Giselle Achecar. Achecar used to be Giselle Loren, who was the voice of animated Buffy. Eco-Rico can be viewed on You-Tube and on the Huffington Post.

#4 – LAURENA SEGURA

The cover of Permafrost, Segura's digital single on iTunes

The Montreal singer-songwriter has released her first EP, PERMAFROST (available on iTunes), and it contains three great songs, Permafrost, Un autre comme moi, and Fireflies of Montreal. Looking forward to more. Her YouTube Channel, lullation, has many excellent videos.

#3 – JAN HELLRIEGEL

Jan Hellriegel

I came across Jan Hellriegel in the cast of two Xena episodes, and found that she had recorded three albums. IT’S MY SIN (1992) TREMBLE (1995), and ALL GROWN UP (2009). All are worth purchsing. She was originally part of the band Cassandra’s Ears (with Flick Rhind, Zan Wright, Venessa Anich and Leanne Ibell. That group released two albums: PRIVATE WASTELAND (1988), and YOUR ESTIMATION (1990). Hellriegel lives in Auckland, New Zealand.

#2 – AMBER TAMBLYN

Amber Tamblyn as Martha M. Masters

As Martha M. Masters in HOUSE, M.D., Amber Tamblyn created one of the most memorable TV characters ever. Also, her book of poems, BANG, DITTO, is well worth reading. Now I need to go watch THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS, and JOAN OF ARCADIA, which I have managed to ignore till now.

#1 – OBSCURUS LUPA

Obscurus Lupa

It was her review of ALIEN APOCALYPSE that got me hooked. Obscurus Lupa reviews the best of the bad films. She’s a bit like MST3K, but her subject matter is more varied and her commentary more intelligent. I now know who Cynthia Rothrock is, and, thanks to Lupa, I didn’t have to sit through any of her films to get that information.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Brittany Robertson of THE SECRET CIRCLE.
God-des and She.
Lesbian Cops (webseries).

HOUSE – ITS ALL ABOUT THE HAIR

 House  No Responses »
Oct 172011
 

Charlene Yi as Dr. Chi Park - sporting a Romulan cut

Odette Annable as Dr. Jessica Adams - big hair - big heart?

House gave himself a haircut, symbolizing his return to an ordered existence, but the best thing he gave himself was a new team. Gone are the whiny, self-centered Chase and Taub (although they suspiciously lurk in the show’s credits). Foreman has been kicked upstairs. Thirteen is gone, because she’s happy. She has gotten herself into a stable relationship and House, who has entertained her as a possible substitute for Cuddy, had to let her go.

So who’s the new team? So far there are two of them. One is Jessica Adams (Odette Annable), who House got fired from her job at the prison, and who is working pro bono while job hunting. The other is Chi Park (comic Charlene Yi), who has filed a sexual harassment suit against another doctor at the hospital.

Jessica Adams has big hair, and a big personality to go with it. Well, maybe it’s just big in contrast to the Romulan cut sported by Dr. Park. Dr. Adams is an extrovert. Dr. Park is introverted, but with a temper. There have been moments in the last two episodes when I have liked Park a lot (see the scene where Adams makes a gift of red shoes to the diminutive Park, who has an extreme aversion to the acceptance of gifts). That was a Chi Park moment. There have not yet been many Dr. Adams moments.

It goes without saying that neither of them is Martha M. Masters. But they are doctors first and neurotic, maladjusted twenty-somethings second, which makes them a considerable improvement over Taub, Foreman, and Chase. (They were maladjusted thirty-somethings, but you get the idea.)

And the best thing of all: THERE IS NO MORE CUDDY!

HOUSE FINALE: CUDDY GETS HER COMEUPPANCE

 House  No Responses »
May 242011
 

I’ve been worried about Greg House. He just hasn’t been himself for much of the past few years. He’s allowed himself to be prodded by shrinks, nagged by Cuddy, and reduced to the level of his subordinates.

The season finale has alleviated most of my concerns.

Now I am not a fan of beaches. But House’s escape to the tropics is certainly one to envy. If that sort of thing is his notion of paradise, I hope he remains there. New Jersey is just not a healthy place for him to be.

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