Category Archives: Site News

Review for ABC’s For the People

Posted on March 17, 2018 by

This new legal procedural show is basically How to Get Away with Murder without Viola Davis, and is exactly as disappointing as it sounds!

For the People is so excruciatingly self-conscious that, at times, especially during the pilot, it seems as if every actor is frantically waving their hands about and shouting for you to notice that they are in a TV show, finally!
 
Transparent Emotional Manoeuvring

When friends and roommates Sandra, played by Britt Robertson, and Ali, undertaken by Jasmin Savoy Brown, interact with one another in the stilted first episode. The subtext is very obviously that the best-friend-dynamic needs to be established as quickly as is possible. With the kind of emotional manipulation that it so obvious it is almost cynical, For the People tries to present the Shondaland ideal standard of six-odd youthful overachievers who all talk too fast and are simply smouldering with unresolved sexual tension, but falls very short.

Yawn. Personally, I would rather be spending some time at the kind of online casino New Zealand has to offer!
 
Subtle as a Battleship

Right from the first frame of For the People, the characters are scrambled up together in a variety of heterosexual romantic pairings, like they’ve been shaken up like dice in a cup and thrown down to see what will happen next.

But, unlike Rhimes’ greatest shows, For the People lacks even the pretence of subtlety, which is very often provided by the lead actor, a Kerry Washington, a Viola Davis, or an Ellen Pompeo. It’s spirited, and follows all the correct patterns, but I found For the People very difficult to invest in.
 
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Is This Is Us an Antidote for Trump?

Posted on March 16, 2018 by

Shortly before the anticipated season finale on Tuesday, the creator and cast of NBC’s This Is Us assembled before a standing-room-only audience as SXSW to consider the show’s universal success in the midst of an era as politically divisive as this one is turning out to be.
 
Dan Fogelman is Optimistic

Dan Fogelman, the creator of This Is Us, stated that he frequently found himself wondering what was going on in the world right now. He added then that the fact that people across a wide spectrum were enjoying the show and that it was an openhearted, optimistic, romantic, and inclusive one, gave him hope.
 
Mandy Moore Agrees with Fogelman

Mandy Moore, who plays the matriarch of the Pearson family, Rebecca, was quick to back up Fogelman’s sentiment. She stated that it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime chance, in times that are as schismatic as these, to be a part of a piece of television entertainment that was positive like This Is Us is.

Moore has been in the business for almost 20 years, and it is this kind of perspective that Moore hopes she inspires in the actors who play her onscreen kids, as well. Whether it is on set, or during career-milestones like the ensemble cast winning during the Screen Actors Guild, SAG, Awards in January, Moore has stated that she has made a determined effort to remind the younger members of the This Is Us cast not to take anything for granted. As any real money pokies player will be quick to tell you, success comes and goes. The point is to have fun!

The wisdom Moore is trying to impart is that presence and appreciation are vital – she knows from experience that, in the business of show business, moments like the one This Is Us is enjoying now don’t come around all that often.
 
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Four Mafia Shows You Just Have To Watch

Posted on February 19, 2018 by

There are huge amounts of mafia themed TV shows

Crime fiction has always been a popular genre. After all, it gives you all you could ever want in a drama: complex plotlines, conflict, heroes and villains and plenty of action. Mafia-themed shows are one of its most popular sub-genres, inspired by The Godfather trilogy of films which took $249,175,314 at the box office (over $1 billion in today’s money).

There are many possible reasons for the appeal of the mob. Many depictions of the way the mafia works show them getting exactly what they want – even being treated like royalty by everyone from restaurant maitre d’s to corrupt police chiefs. It might be power that’s generated through fear but who, secretly, wouldn’t also like to have that influence in the world? The fact that it’s also a secret society with its own rituals and bonds of honour also makes the mafia all the more interesting and cryptic, ruled as it is by the principle of “omerta” and which has its origins in the organisation’s Italian roots.

From murder mystery parties to video games, there are lots of places we can get a fix for our mob-session. But TV shows are what we love at TV Is My Pacifier, so here’s our pick of the best mafia-themed shows to ever grace the screen.
 
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The Ballad of Buster Scruggs: Return of the Western

Posted on February 13, 2018 by

With the Coen brothers’ latest venture coming to Netflix later this year, an anthology series set in the wild west and starring Tim Blake Nelson, now seems as good a time as any to step back and look at what exactly makes the Western genre so dang popular. Whether it’s long shots of the mountain ranges in the background, the sheer manliness of the cowboys helping the poor folk around them, or a tense showdown with revolvers that feels even more suspenseful than a game of Russian Roulette. The Western has endured throughout the years and with good reason!

Starting in 1903 with The Great Train Robbery, the Western proved an immensely popular new type of film that gained solid ground throughout the first few decades of its existence, becoming increasingly popular and getting a sizeable boost after World War II with John Wayne standing proud as an icon of American manliness and assertiveness. It’s estimated that in the fifty years between 1910 and 1960 that about 25% of all films made featured cowboys, and the TV landscape looked much the same in broadcasting terms.

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Jennifer Aniston May Have Been Joking, But is a Friends Reunion Really Possible?

Posted on February 8, 2018 by

Source: Friends via Twitter

Friends is one of the best and most popular sitcoms of all time, and despite the show last airing in May 2004, it is still on television all around the world as reruns remain popular to this day. For years, there have been suggestions and rumours about a Friends reunion, and there was recently a fake Friends movie trailer that went viral on the internet. Jennifer Aniston’s recent comments have only led to more speculation that there could be a Friends reunion soon. Speaking on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, the 48-year-old American actress, who played the role of Rachel Green on the 1990s and 2000s sitcom, said when asked if a new series of Friends was possible: “Anything is a possibility, Ellen. Anything! I mean, George Clooney got married.”

Since Friends last aired in 2004, there have been several notable and successful sitcoms, such as How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, and Two and a Half Men, but there is still room for a new series of Friends. After all, Fuller House – which is a sequel to Full House (1987-1995) – is already three seasons old and is not showing any signs of slowing down. Given the popularity that Friends enjoyed – the last episode was watched by over 50 million people, and that was before the social media age – a new series is certainly going to be a huge hit – if written well and executed properly.

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