GG proves a point

SPOILER ALERT AHEAD-

Adorable Connor Paolo, who plays lil' bro Eric Van Der somethingorother on the CWs teen drama Gossip Girl, has had an interesting twist for his character as of late. Although Schwartz has lost some (a lot) of that initial hardcore teen drama touch he had with early OC (and early GG episodes too), Connor's performance as well as the writing of this brother-centered episode upped the enjoyment levels a notch.

Turns out, after many rumours, that Eric and Jenny was not going to happen after all, not since this boy with a maturity level far beyond his age had figured out his stance on his sexuality.


Cudos for adding a little frisky twist to the storylines, but also for not batting around with cliches too much when it comes to issues of this nature. Oh wait, they did that! Nonetheless, a good eppi.

The rest of the latter part of the season though? Well, in true Josh Schwartz fashion there was bitchyness, relapses, drama, and faltering storylines already in the first season. Repetitive doesn't always work in the long run. The UPs include Blair's storylines, Nate and Chuck's friendship in all it's loyal quirkyness, and hey Serena pulled a Marissa and 'killed' someone... only she didn't... and there were drugs... but she didn't actually... only she did... and then Dan... and the confusion... and then Ryan...

Oh, hang on. Which show was which again?

Anyhow... Let's hope the CW makes sure those producers spend a little less of the budget on the clothing and a little more on, well, refreshing the show. Teens need their weekly drama too, let's make it quality drama guys!

xo xo

ps. There's just something about him, and if you wanna see more of Connor's acting check out 'Alexander' (the movie), or the first hour at least. He plays young Alex, and get's to sit by Angelina Joile.

Private Practice

href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank">

I love Kate Walsh. She’s witty, she’s fun, she’s bubbly… All credits to her… I find most her castmates in PP quite alright too, in fact there is a certain something between Pauld Adelstein’s and Amy Brenneman’s characters that just makes me almost want to smile.

However, the first (official as a show) episode of Private Practice was, frankly, awful. I could not wait to see those end credits roll, and I repeatedly wanted to smack Naomi (Audra McDonald’s character) for no apparent reason, other than that she was boring. The whole composition.

The dialogues were too slow, the emotional scenes looked like a first draft, and the storylines felt stiff. Old. Boring…

There, that Bword again. The one that’s gotten into my head and just keeps repeating itself. What have they done to Addison? I probably should give it a second chance and sit through 1.02 as well, but then I might not be able to control that urge to shut down the TV. And that would just be awkward. You don’t just shut down Addison. Or Paul Adelstein for that matter… Damn it. Michael Grossman (director), you can do better!


XoXo
TPoW

Gossip Girl, series premiere

(Cast of the CW's new Gossip Girl)

There are things about rich kids that fascinate us. We can't really put our fingers on it, but, hey, kids (and adults) all over the world tuned in to watch The OC. What the CW execs wanted to know, no doubt, was whether or not this interest had remained. Would anyone be watching to hear the latest on Gossip Girl?

Josh Schwartz has proven his excellence lies in a very specific genre; the world of teenage heartaches of the rich and fabulous. For the longest time I actually expected him to break free of the expectations and dazzle us all with something new. A movie maybe? Move on into the big world? Or perhaps take that dramatics he clearly has a knack for to a new level, and certainly bring the music with him? We got to know him as the wonder-boy, the too-young-to-be-true creator of an international hit which likes had not been seen in years (before it turned south, somewhere mid first season). Last night we learned whether or not the boy had grown up.

Gossip girl, based on the books by Cecily Von Ziegesar and turned to small screen format by Josh Schwarts and Stephanie Savage, may or may not be the hit the CW has been waiting for, their efforts in promoting it have certainlynot gone by un-noticed (is there even some desperation in the air?). The paralells to The OC are obvious and necessary, and cudos to the guys for not putting too much effort into downlplaying that.

The focus lies on a group of private school kids in NY, their stories told from the perspective of narrator and blogger gossip girl. There's Serena (Blake Lively), our very own (re-newed Marissa) good girl who used to be bad, or good, or maybe just misunderstood? We'll probably figure that out along the way. There is of course her best friend Blake (Leighton Meester) (who's boyfriend Serena screwed bthw) who is feeling a bit torn and angsty.

There’s also evil Chuck (Ed Westwick) who will probably turn out to have a sensitive side, although I'm hoping they just keep him an ass. So much more intriguing to watch. Dan (Penn Badgley) and little (naive) sister Jenny (Taylor Momsen) feel, what's the word, relatively normal.

Now we've moved further into the 21st century. Perez is blogging away much like the mysterious gossip girl, a new generation of fourteen-fifteen year olds are looking around for some new 90210 on tv, and, apparently, GG is now the only show shot entirely on location in NY. Certainly a whole batch of young girls will be tuning in to watch Blair balance impossibly high heels and Dan look hot and read books. Enough to be OC big? We'll see by christmas.

What of Josh then? Will he ever be more than the guy who makes teen-hit-gold on TV? Maybe he should stick to where his creativity fits best and the cash lies. Although I would still love to see him expand his horizons.

Quote of the topic: "I did punch someone." (Dan to Serena regarding their first 'date'... such Ryan Atwood flashbacks, good times good times.)

xo xo

/tPoW