Briefly Noted Tuesday
Posted December 11th, 2007 by Rich Heldenfels
Ringing in my head: Delaney & Bonnie singing "Been out of the blog, about six months too long … " I know that it hasn't been that long since I posted but it feels that way. Dealt mostly with family business yesterday. Today was a four-fer: HFiles, Channels cover, mailbag, pop quiiz, plus catching up on phone calls and e-mails.
And tonight I am heading to Cleveland for "I Am Legend," the Will Smith pic from the Richard Matheson novel. Novel's great. Hope the movie's good.
A few notes:
– Some decent laughs in last night's "How I Met Your Mother." More than some, in fact. And you know that I love it when it plays with conventional narrative, which it did in a big way last night. Still, I could have done with maybe one fewer sequences of the same line repeated by different characters in different situations. But very watchable.
– The January Television Critics Association tour is dead. You can read one report here. This is not a direct hit for me, since I haven't gone in January in a number of years. But it's bad for the TV critics profession, since the January tour is a source of news and information. And if the networks conclude that they have done all right without January '08, who knows what they will decide about future tours? I can only hope that this long and bruising strike will, by this summer, increase the networks' need for renewed attention once the strike is over — and the tour will go on.
– Saw the series finale of "Extras," which airs this Sunday. I liked the show but I eventually concluded that the finale is superfluous, aside from a terrific performance by Ashley Jensen. Will try to elaborate later.
May post a few "Legend" notes late tonight. In any case, I hope to be back on more of a blogging routine by Wednesday.
December 11th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
[...] rheldenfels wrote an interesting post today on Briefly Noted TuesdayHere's a quick excerptAnd tonight I am heading to Cleveland for "I Am Legend," the Will Smith pic from the Richard Matheson novel. Novel's great. Hope the movie's good. A few notes:. – Some decent laughs in last night's "How I Met Your Mother. … [...]
December 12th, 2007 at 9:02 am
What do you make of the HIMYM producers sending out a bulletin on their MySpace page with a note saying that the mother is the
*** SPOILER ALERT, maybe?***
the coat-check girl? Ratings draw, or are they being honest?
December 12th, 2007 at 10:22 am
In the context of the entire piece, which was begging fans not to forget the show during the strike (a real concern for a series that has been as bubble-prone as "HIMYM"), I think it was just a joke. Not that I didn't ponder it for a moment or two. But the line about the doctor at the end of this week's episode was quite a tease, too.