Sunday Night TV and Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Sun May 10, 2009 at 06:54:03 PM EST
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There's a lot of tv on tonight to cap a very pleasant Mother's Day. First up is the season finale of HBO's The Number One Ladies Detective Agency.

There's the three hour finale of Celebrity Apprentice where Joan Rivers goes to bat against her arch-rival, poker champ Annie Duke. (Joan has the better team but Annie should win since she's the better player. It should be a down and dirty sleaze-fest.) Update: Joan is killing Annie at the task, she really deserves to win. 45 minutes to go though. Update: My final prediction, with 20 minutes to go: Joan wins.

There's also a new Desperate Housewives and the season finale of Brothers and Sisters.

Since I'll be watching all of the above, here's an open thread for TV and for more important things. All topics welcome.

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Sunday Night TV and Open Thread | 30 comments (30 topical)

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Kenneth Branagh in his (5.00 / 2) (#1)
by oculus on Sun May 10, 2009 at 06:59:55 PM EST

first ever recurring role in a TV series. 3 episodes starting tonight on PBS Masterpiece Mystery: "Wallander."

: thanks for the reminder (5.00 / 1) (#3)
by DFLer on Sun May 10, 2009 at 07:29:14 PM EST

I read a great review of that in this morning's paper.

: thank you so much (5.00 / 1) (#5)
by ruffian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 08:14:07 PM EST

Just ran in to TiVo it. Missed the first 12 minutes but that's OK.

: But I'm not going to watch Branagh tonight (5.00 / 1) (#15)
by oculus on Sun May 10, 2009 at 11:05:35 PM EST

as KUSC FM is steaming live Maria Callas's "La Traviata" recorded live in Lisbon.

Happy Mother's Day Jeralyn! (5.00 / 4) (#2)
by TChris on Sun May 10, 2009 at 07:10:52 PM EST

: Yes J, hope you and TLKid (5.00 / 0) (#7)
by ruffian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 08:17:38 PM EST

had a nice day!

I highly recommend a trip to the local cinema (5.00 / 1) (#11)
by Radiowalla on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:41:20 PM EST

to see "Every Little Step," a documentary about the revival of "A Chorus Line." It's just a delight!

: It might not be in wide release... (none / 0) (#22)
by EL seattle on Mon May 11, 2009 at 12:46:23 AM EST

... but some folks seem to like it quite a bit.
You can read reviews at the Metacritic webpage.

I like fluff while I am working. (5.00 / 1) (#23)
by Fabian on Mon May 11, 2009 at 06:09:11 AM EST

Which is why I am listening to Aspirin's Another Fine Myth while I do housework. I read it back in my college days and it's still great campy fun.

I so rarely get enough uninterrupted hours to sit down and watch anything that what ever it is best be top notch. Anything involving idols, stars, nannies or housewives are right out. About the only celebrity I'm interested in is Kristin Chenoweth. I flipped through her book in a bookstore and it was very refreshing read. Time for a reserve at the public library.

Annie Duke (none / 0) (#4)
by randy80302 on Sun May 10, 2009 at 07:40:14 PM EST

I am a big fan of Annie Duke, I agree she has the game playing and fund raising skills to make a good run at Joan Rivers.

Finale of The Amazing Race (none / 0) (#6)
by ruffian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 08:15:39 PM EST

was very exciting. I won't spoil it for anyone.

On a side note, I don't know if Phil is married, but if not I really hope he and Tammy get together after the race. I can't think of a cuter TV couple.

I was more or less happy for the way it (none / 0) (#10)
by Anne on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:17:15 PM EST

turned out, but I didn't find it particularly exciting; was glad the cheerleaders beat Margy and Luke, though.


: I guess that is where (none / 0) (#27)
by ruffian on Mon May 11, 2009 at 08:48:24 AM EST

I drew my excitement! I was glad to see that too. I liked the redheads, overall.

Anyone watch SNL last night? (none / 0) (#8)
by oldpro on Sun May 10, 2009 at 08:23:39 PM EST

I only caught a couple of pieces during commercial breaks of a rerun of The Shawshank Redemption (a favorite film).

Two moments had me laughing out loud...one, a demonstration of the Mom's Celebrity Translator! As a Mom who can never get those celebrity names right, I NEED ONE OF THOSE!

The other bit which I thought equally hilarious. though not pc, involved NY Gov. Patterson. The high fives were a riot.

Was this show live or a rerun? I seem to recall a dustup re portraying the blind governor in another episode...

I didn't do any television today (none / 0) (#9)
by Militarytracy on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:09:42 PM EST

I did watch Elegy on Netflix on my laptop this afternoon. Then we went to dinner and I decided on seeing Wolverine with my son and husband.....a girl gives a little every now and then and it pays off in the end :) Both movies were pretty decent as far as this chick and flix go.

I enjoyed "Elegy" (none / 0) (#13)
by oculus on Sun May 10, 2009 at 11:00:14 PM EST

although Philip Roth was less than enthusiastic about the movie version of his novel.


A very sensuous movie (none / 0) (#28)
by Militarytracy on Mon May 11, 2009 at 09:00:12 AM EST

alongside the lump in your throat life events depicted and addressed: aging, sexuality, dying, love and long term friendship, fatherhood, and don't forget how we all appreciate forms of art and expression. It was layered and complex (a Ben Kingsley forte) and well done, I really liked it. Roth must have off the charts expectations of film, sounds like he will seldom if ever be happy with film adaptations of his books. With so much depth and nuance being expressed......it's going to be a rough one getting all that on film in is voice.


I googled for, but couldn't locate, (none / 0) (#30)
by oculus on Mon May 11, 2009 at 12:33:59 PM EST

the interview of Roth I heard on NPR awhile ago about his newest novel and about the film of Elegy. He really has no expectations re filming of his movies and his comment was priceless.


: I found it (none / 0) (#31)
by Militarytracy on Tue May 12, 2009 at 09:19:29 AM EST

It is at the end of this interview. A healthy viewpoint it seems to me about judging someones work of art that is supposedly based on your work of art :)

Mets replay and tunes... (none / 0) (#12)
by kdog on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:48:24 PM EST

after a wonderful day with Moms and the whole fam...7 in a row baby! You gotta appreciate when life is good, thanks and praises.

On the other hand, the Pads suck big time. (none / 0) (#14)
by oculus on Sun May 10, 2009 at 11:00:50 PM EST

It's early... (none / 0) (#16)
by kdog on Sun May 10, 2009 at 11:10:08 PM EST

ya gotta believe...the Dodgers are bound to cool less Manny, and I don't think Bengie Molina can carry the Giants forever.


If only the Pads could figure out the RBI (none / 0) (#17)
by oculus on Sun May 10, 2009 at 11:15:29 PM EST

thingee. Why could they do it on the East Coast road trip but not anywhere else? Huh?


My squad has the same problem... (none / 0) (#19)
by kdog on Sun May 10, 2009 at 11:33:04 PM EST

whenever the Amazing Johan pitches...luckily he's got an ers of .9

Maybe your boys need to call Manny's guy:)


Per ESPN radio, Manny is sooo very sorry. (none / 0) (#21)
by oculus on Mon May 11, 2009 at 12:26:53 AM EST

Also, on ESPN radio the baseball guys asked who hit 50 home runs one season and went for quite awhile the next season with zero HR. Answer: Greg Vaughn, 1998-1999--the steroid era.


The Dawn of the Steroid Era (none / 0) (#24)
by CoralGables on Mon May 11, 2009 at 06:58:17 AM EST

in baseball and football was probably in the mid 80's and continued to..ummm...today for some. In other sports such as swimming, perhaps 10 years earlier.

And to think, blood doping was once the rage in sports such as track and cycling when it came into play in the 70's. Today it's probably more HGH in football and baseball and every other sport where large sums of money are involved.

Not sure when amphetamines were the drug of choice in sports but when it comes to making money based on athletic performance, it has and will always follow the gospel of Roseanne Roseannadanna.


: Bennies... (none / 0) (#26)
by kdog on Mon May 11, 2009 at 08:02:55 AM EST

were very big in the 50's...I'm always amused how there was/is no outrage about our baseball heroes being hopped up on speed to enhance performance back in the days of "Leave it to Beaver", but there is a boatload of outrage about the roid heads today.
Me personally I don't give a sh*t what they take, as I expect them not to care what I take:)

I love Sunday Night TV-Way too many good shows (none / 0) (#18)
by BarnBabe on Sun May 10, 2009 at 11:16:42 PM EST

I was busy with the remote. Watched Amazing Race and flip to the Apprentice. Then Ladies Detective Agency was on. Great music and I think Jill Scott plays the part well. Also, on PBS, Wallender which is what I watched most with flips to see what was happening. Yes, Tivo is good but when you are watching live shows, it is no fun watching them later. So, in the meantime I missed Criminal Intent and In Plain Sight. The real problem is that Friday and Saturday nights suck and rarely do I even turn on the TV. Then comes Sunday and wow, way too many. The good news is that on the reruns I can catch Cold Case. OK, I agree, it sounds like I need a life but after last year's Presidential election, it is so relaxing to just watch some good entertainment.

Sunday night. (none / 0) (#25)
by Sweet Sue on Mon May 11, 2009 at 08:00:23 AM EST

There are a lot of good shows but, for me, Sunday night is "Breaking Bad" night. Brian Cranston is doing such amazing work as Walt White.

In possibly THE lamest plot point ever scripted (none / 0) (#29)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Mon May 11, 2009 at 11:55:36 AM EST

the manager of the self storage unit - that Bree secretly rented to store the stuff she stole from her own home to keep it from being included in the marriage assets she'd have to split with Orson, the husband she's divorcing - calls her home out of the blue to correct a billing mistake and...see if you can possibly guess who answers the phone and becomes alerted to the secret storage unit?