Money comes and goes, yeah? These kids of ours, that’s a one-time deal.

“The Giving Tree” is one of Shel Silverstein’s finest works, and while Landry’s right that his relationship with Tyra superficially resembles it, the story is about parents and children. The give us life, nurture and support us. They feed us, clothe us, give us shelter and succor. They keep us warm and dry and safe. They teach us to play and teach us to become men and women. In the end, we survive our parents. We are their lives’ work and when they finish, when we finally say our goodbyes, it is with love and debt for all they’ve done.

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Doc, he’s cool. I found him on the Internet.
Yes, that never goes badly.

The second episode, airing in its regular slot on Tuesday nights finds the team scattered around the world. That’s not really a shock as they aren’t a team yet. Sophie’s still “acting”, auditioning for a soap commercial with all the subtlety and nuance she can muster, Parker’s stealing art, and Eliot’s off hurting people. Only Nate and Hardison are back at home setting up the offices of Leverage Consulting & Associates, founded by the very handsome and leonine Harlan Leverage, III.

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Nathan: My job is helping people. I find bad guys.
Sophie: Well go find some bad guys. Bad guys have money. Black King. White Knight.

As Nathan Ford sits in an empty lounge waiting for a flight, self-medicating from his stash of mini bottles, he’s approached by Victor Dubenich (Saul Rubinek) with a job. Victor knows quite a bit about Nathan.

Victor runs development at Bering Aerospace and claims five years of development on a new short haul domestic airliner have been stolen by his rival at Pierson Aviation. He’s hired three thieves and needs “one honest man” to take charge of them. Nathan only agrees when Victor tells him Pierson is insured by his old company. This job isn’t just about money: it’s about revenge.

What Nathan doesn’t see is that Victor’s a stone-cold bastard.

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For the last 3 weeks, the fate of my Grey’s Anatomy DVR season pass has lain in the balance. The whole Denny Duquette ghost storyline confused me. I couldn’t buy into the fact that Izzie Stevens suddenly became sensitive to the other side and began conversing with the dead. Next, I got seriously pissed when Brooke Smith was quietly whisked away from view. While it was a bit odd Callie had recruited McSteamy to be her teacher in the ways of Lesbian love, I did enjoy Callie and Hahn’s actual relationship. I thought Dr. Hahn was a great addition to the cast. So, since her last appearance, I’ve been waiting to see if I will continue watching or if Grey’s will be permanently removed from my DVR lineup. Read the rest of this entry »

This fall has not been a great season for TV. New shows have been painful letdowns, old shows have come up short, and the few standouts have either been canceled - Pushing Daisies - or ended their runs in heart stopping fashion like The Shield. So even when something’s been great, we won’t be seeing it any longer.

Into that vast wasteland comes a breath of fresh, stylish air on TNT. Leverage marks the return of the superstar thief to the airwaves to fight back the onslaught of reality programming and forensic procedurals. You can read my preview here. It’s a tight, snappy show with a stellar cast having a lot of fun with what they’re doing. Which makes it a great change of pace from a lot of the somber and downright glum people littering the dial.

I was able to ask the creators a few questions about the show. I hope you enjoy their answers as much as I did.

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Young Ned’s lesson tonight is one we could all stand to learn: “even a forkful of immediate gratification can lead to a world of grave consequences.” Young Ned learned while opening the oven at the Longborough School for Boys and letting the aroma of pie waft through the night. It was a lesson Chuck could have used before opening her father’s grave and letting a very different aroma waft on the night breeze.

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When Friday Night Lights is at its best, football is the hub around which each story revolves. Some are obviously and tightly coupled, such as the QB controversy or Matt standing tall under the weight of hit after hit to go back for one more play, one more yard. Some seem detached, like Mindy and Billy acting out the behaviors they’ll repeat for the next 30 years. But in the good episodes, every story - every *person* - is impacted by Panther Football. Tonight was one of those episodes.

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I have to admit it. When Carlos lost his sight, I thought it would be one, two episodes tops and then whoop from heaven, the light would shine and the blind would see. But as the story played out, I was secretly thrilled they were getting more traction out of his blindness. After all, Law & Order SVU, a much more serious drama, played the vision card for one show only. Why should Desperate Housewives be any different? I was proud of them for stretching Carlos’ injury as long as they could. Read the rest of this entry »

People like that, corporations like that, they have all the money. They have all the power. And they use it to make people like you go away. Right now, you’re suffering under an enormous weight. We provide…Leverage.

If you’re a certain age, you might have grown up as I did, watching shows like It Takes a Thief and The Saint. You might even have rooted for David Niven in The Pink Panther. The thief with a heart of gold is the oldest and most revered anti-hero in the storyteller’s pantheon and used to be common on our televisions, but he’s been MIA for a long time. The networks have made a few attempts at reviving the genre with little success; however, the recent growth of original drama on basic cable makes this the perfect time and place to bring back the thief.

So on December 7th, TNT expands its repertoire of original dramas by adding the stylish, charming, and amusing Leverage to its lineup.

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Got an Xbox? Good. Got Xbox LIVE? Very good. Today is the launch of the Horror Meets Comedy shorts on LIVE, sponsored by the USAF I just finished the short, from May director Lucky McKee, and chuckled quite a bit. If you like subversive and slightly skewed humor, you’ll probably like this quite a bit.

For context, if you like James Gunn’s PG Porn, you’ll think this is a hoot ‘n’ a half.

Log in, download, and come on back and tell us what you thought.