Awake with Jason Isaacs? Yes, please!

Last week NBC premiered their new series, Awake, starring Jason Isaacs, who is one of the hottest actors ever to come out of Great Britain, one of the hotties from the Harry Potter film series, among other things. He was the sexiest Captain Hook, and he played in Showtime's series Brotherhood as a gangster with a heart, Michael Caffee.  I would have watched the show anyway, for Jason, but the premise hooked me from the start.

Michael Britten is a policeman who's been in a car accident, along with his wife and son. When he awakens afte the accident... well, there's the problem. It appears that he has two realities. In one, his wife survived, and he has one partner, and one psychiatrist, but when he closes his eyes, he opens them to a different reality. One where his son survived, and he has a different partner and psychiatrist. As a consequence, he never knows if he's awake or dreaming. And right now, he doesn't want to change a thing, because he has the best of both worlds.

Each psychiatrist tells him that the other reality is just a dream, so who is he to believe? The pilot was really very good, I'm looking forward to seeing more of it. Jason looks fantastic, as always. It was interesting to see Wilmer Valdertama as his partner in one reality. B.D. Wong, of Law and Order plays one of the psychiatrist. NBC now has two shows that I find interesting enough to watch - this, and Grimm. Keep up the good work!

Last week, Top Chef Texas concluded with the finale, which was between Paul and Sara. It was a close battle, down to the finish, but a foregone conclusion, and I'm happy to say that Paul won. He was consistently a better chef than Sara. The only other person I would have rather seen win was Edward. All in all, this will not go down as my favorite Top Chef season, and I really hated the Last Chance Kitchen. I hope they don't do that again. That's as bad as the wild card spots in professional sports. I wish they'd bring back Master Chef or Hells Kitchen, I need me some Gordon Ramsay!

The Walking Dead has only two episodes left this season.  **SPOILERS AHEAD** This season has certainly gotten darker in many ways, not least of which was the discover of the missing Sophia as a walker, and her subsequent death.  The revelation of Shane and Lori's affair. Shane's growing belief that he should be in charge. Hershel's distancing himself from the group. Carl's increasing hardness, as he becomes inured to the brutality of the new world - and welcomes it. The last episode dealt with some thorny issues. They end up with a young man on their hands, part of a larger group that tried to hurt them. They fear if they let him go, he'll lead his group to them, with dire consequences. Shane wants to put him to death, but Dale fights the idea, and it's decided to put it to a vote. Carl discovers a walker stuck in the mud and taunts him, but in doing so he  accidentally unleashes an unfortunate sequence of events which results in tragedy and death. I'm wondering if he's going to confess to his part in what happened. Right now, I don't like this kid much. I never did like his mother. I like Rick, and I like Glenn. Something I didn't realize until it was pointed out to me - the girl who plays Maggie was in Vampire Diaries as Rose. Makes me wonder what is coming up in the last two episodes, and for next season.

This week on Sandwich King, Jeff showed us how to make his versions of two classics - a reuben, and a  roast beef. Both looked delicious, although I confess to not being a fan of horseradish. Jeff is exuding a great deal more confidence now, and is doing well. I'd love to have him cook for me - he has a lucky family!






That's it for now, more about Californication, Once Upon a Time, Alcatraz and Grimm later.

Until next time, take care!

♥ Julie

On Censorship, Justice, and Irony - and sandwiches!

By now a lot of you know about the escalating PayPal brouhaha. This financial institution has taken upon itself the position of moral arbiter and are strong arming sites such as Bookstrand and others to comply with their fascist demands - or else. I'm blogging on that subject today at my friend Margaret West's blog - if you want join in the fray, go there. I'm going to discuss other things here.

Top Chef Texas is down to the final three, but I've been too disheartened to blog about it since the show before last when two bad things happened - as I feared, Bev was brought back into the competition via the Last Chef Standing showdown. And the chef that was eliminated was Edward. I was so pissed, especially as I felt that Last Chef second chance deal was bogus.Bev was eliminated, she should have stayed that way. But Karma came back last week and bit her in the ass, eliminating her for a second time.  Lindsay won the quick fire challenge and was passed into the last show. Then Paul secured a spot, and it came down to Bev and Sarah. Sarah came through, and Bev's gone and she'll stay gone this time. That leaves the final three - Paul, Lindsay, Sarah. I like all three chefs, so I won't be disappointed, no matter who wins, but I think I'm leaning toward Paul as the winner. In the meantime, I'm mourning Edward's loss. He should have been there too.

A brief Vampire Diaries note - the show is off again until March. I don't really care. I'm sick to death of Klaus and his family, and if it weren't for Damon, I wouldn't care if I never saw the show again. Tired of martyr Stefan - yeah, we all knew that he's being a hardass for Elena. Not that I wanted her with Damon, 'cause I don't. But I want to see him happy. Paradox.

Poor Hank! He keeps getting blamed for stuff he didn't even do! Trying to protect Karen's new hubby by claiming the stripper Richard banged as his own girlfriend just didn't work out so well. Now Karen and Becca are mad at him without reason, and he was forced to agree to read the first ten pages of Becca's handsome but no-good boyfriend's screenplay. One good thing - at least Mia isn't in the picture any more. *quickly throws salt over my shoulder*  I'm really loving the fifth season, things are always happening, and you gotta love Hank Moody, right?

In other news, the Sandwich King is back! The second season of Jeff Mauro's show premiered Sunday, and this season is already off to a good start. In the first episode, Jeff visited a deli there in Chicago, and showed us how to make grilled cheese two ways - one for children, one for adults, along with a hearty tomato soup, and then he made a meat loaf sandwich. Everything looked delicious! All the recipes can be found at the Food Network site, and I for one intend to grab them. I'm glad Jeff's back. I think he's more self-assured in front of the camera, and I really enjoy this show.



**SPOILERS AHEAD**

Things are heating up in The Walking Dead, which came back after a brief hiatus. There is growing dissension, and hard decisions are being made. When Herschel disappears, they find they need him for a girl who's gone into shock, so Rick and Glenn track him to the bar in town, where he's tying on one. While there, two men show up, one of whom is Raymond Michael James, late of Terriers and True Blood. The two draw first, and Rick has to shoot them. Unfortunately, they weren't alone, and they end up taking a wounded young man back to the farm. Now they fear to release him because he might give away their location. Shane is more and more unhappy with the way things are going, and Lori suspects he had something to do with Otis' death. Which he did. She tells Rick that Shane is obsessed with her, and is convinced the baby is his, but that she says it's Rick's regardless. That tells me it might be Shane's and she's just not going to deal with the possibility. Their son Carl is growing up far too fast, seen things he should never have seen. When Shane blurts out about the baby in front of him, he asks that if it's a girl, she be named Sophia, after his late friend.

Out of everyone, the character that is developing the most is Glenn. He's come a long way from the innocent young nerd he was at the beginning of the series, and I think there is a definite chance for him and Maggie to forge a lasting a alliance. I really do not like Lori, and the best thing would be if she and Shane ran off, but I don't see that happening, as she's starting to see him as a psycho. It's a really rough world, and I'm not sure things will ever get better, at least not in the foreseeable future.

Alcatraz keeps on delivering, this week's episode involving Johnny McKee, a guy who specialized in poison. In order to learn something about him, Rebecca wants to talk to the prisoner who occupied the cell next to his - Jack Sylvane. When she wants to go to the prison where he's being held, Hauser stalls, and says he'll bring him to her, which he does. There's a lot that she and Diego don't know about what's going on, but I predict someday it'll come out. It's coming closer all the time. For one thing, the fact that Lucy comes from the same time as the prisoners. They know Hauser worked at The Rock then, but not about her, not to mention she looks the same as she did then. Hauser has moved her from the hospital where she was at to the facility where the prisoners are housed. Rebecca is trying to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding her grandfather, but Hauser seems determined to keep her from up. Keep up the good work.

All for now, gotta get back to editing and writing. I have an idea for an open call at DSP, but I don't want to jinx it by talking about it!

Until next time, take care!

♥ Julie

Of Teddybears, Fairy Tales and Things that go Bump in the Night

Californication is back for its fifth season, and now we're several episodes in and I'm all caught up. **SPOILERS AHEAD***  It starts out a couple of years after the fourth season ended. We're all done with Hank's probation over the statutory rape of Mia and hopefully she won't pop up again. But having said that, one never knows. Karen is married to Richard Bates (you may remember him as the psychotic drunken writer who likes to show his schlong at inappropriate times), Marci and Stu are still together, and they have a child Stuart, who is actually Charlie's son, conceived after his vasectomy was found not to have taken. At the age of two and a half, Stuart doesn't speak, which disturbs Charlie, but Marci says it's normal. And now Becca, Hank's teenage moody daughter has a boyfriend. And damned if she didn't pick a guy just like her old man. Which he learns, when he catches said boyfriend cheating on her. What's Hank doing? He's writing a script for a rapper named Samurai Apocalypse, who's making the transition to actor, and it's called Santa Monica Cop. Don't dare compare it to Beverly Hills Cop, Sam gets really ticked off. On the flight from NY to California to see about doing this project, Hank meets a lovely lady on the plane and they do it in the bathroom. Of course, being Hank, Karma bites him in the ass when he discovers that he just boned Samurai A's girl.

Besides sharing custody of his son, Charlie isn't doing very well in the romance department (not that Hank is doing much better - he broke up with a girl in NY who turned out to be all kinds of crazy and torched his apartment, played by the actress who plays Winona Hawkins on Justified). Charlie's problem is that he treats women the way he sees them treated in the porn he loves - and that doesn't get him very far.  Now let's talk about Charlie for a minute. As an agent, he's had his ups and downs. If you'll recall, he was fired from one agency because he was caught too many times in the act of self-love while in his office. Hank's his main client, but Hank had a dry spell. And then the whole Mia stealing his book thing. He worked briefly for Kathleen Turner, who demanded he service her when she wanted it. It was through her that he met Rick Springfield and Marci got to have her fantasy fuck. Then there was the whole Vagina Town debacle, and his liason with the girl who became the porn actress.

 In last night's episode, Charlie got a long time wish when he and Hank went with Samurai Apocalypse on a ride along with the police department, to prepare for the role. Of course things got horribly fucked up. The policeman had a seizure at a donut shop and they had to call 911. At that point, they should have taken the car back and found something else to do. But that would have been sensible, right? Especially after Samurai learns his girl, who left him two weeks before, is out with some dude. Things go from bad to worse. After that, Hank gets a call from Becca. Her bf has gotten Richard drunk and he's exposing himself in public. In attempting to deal with that, the bf recognizes Samurai as one of the group that beat the shit out of him after Hank caught him cheating, and now Becca and Karen think he had something to do with that, which he didn't. And then Charlie ends up getting a blow job from a tranny hooker, which Hank and Samurai are bound to never let him forget.

Charlie Runkle. Yes, he's not perfect, far from it. But there is something about him. He's a teddy bear. He's cuddly and adorable. If I had to choose between him and Hank for dating purposes, sorry Hank, but I'm taking Charlie. Hank is not only hopelessly in love with Karen, he's also incapable of commitment and being in a long term relationship. Charlie has possibilities. I think with the right woman, he'd settle down and be a great husband and father. He has very pretty eyes. And bald is sexy, so yeah...

Grimm is still going strong, and I hope it stays that way. I enjoy the stories, the writing and acting are good. It's a definite twist on a police show, and I know there are interesting things ahead. I especially enjoy the relationship between Nick and Monroe, his werewolf friend. In one episode, Monroe suffered bodily harm from other supernaturals because of his relationship with Nick. But he decided he wasn't going to give in to their pressure, he'd help Nick all he wanted to. The make-up and cgi work is really great. The last episode was based on Hansel and Gretel and concerned a black market for human organs. They take familiar fairy tales and give them a modern twist. I'm not sure what the ratings are, so watch it while  you can. It's definitely worth it.

***SPOILERS***Once Upon a Time is getting really good too. After the death of the Sheriff, Emma was elected as his replacement, to Regina's dismay. Mary Margaret and David try to fight their feelings for one another, as David is trying to be a good husband to a wife he doesn't remember, but their love is too strong.  After a storm, Regina has had Henry's secret play area torn down, to his distress. And his book is now missing. Emma tries to catch her in misappropriation of town funds, but only succeeds in making her look better when it's revealed that she's planning a park for the children, including Henry, to play in. Emma turns to Sidney, whom Regina has cast off, to help her take the Mayor down, and we learn about Sidney's story - as the wicked queen's one time lover who became the genie in the mirror. What Emma doesn't realize is that Sidney is not what he appears to be, and he's still in Regina's pocket. A stranger has come to town, and Emma and Henry both wonder why and who he is, cause strangers never come to Storybrooke - other than Emma. I suspect he's Henry's father, but we'll just have to see. Sunday nights on ABC - definitely worth watching.

Top Chef Texas is winding down, hopefully they have a great replacement waiting in the wings. Not the best Top Chef season they've ever had. In last week's we were down to five chefs, and I was afraid Edward was going to be axed, but he's still in. I'm really happy that Beverly got taken out, I just hope she doesn't come back with that little survivor thing they have going on after each episode. I think we'll find out this week. Apparently, she beat Nyesha, so let's hope someone beats her or we'll see her back again. I'm rooting for Edward all the way!

There is a new Restaurant Impossible this week and a new Chopped. Looking forward to those. No Iron Chef America, instead it was a night of Cupcake Wars. I watch that sometimes, but it's of limited interest. New Alcatraz tonight, looking forward to it. I'll talk about the new season of Vampire Diaries another time.

Until next time, take care!

♥ Julie

Profit is the Name of the Game - Jim Profit, that is, and a lot more

So I admit to being behind on watching some series. For example, I'm almost at the end of the first season of Xena. I know - way behind. But I'm enjoying it, seriously. It's a lot of fun.  I can see why Lucy Lawless has admirers of both genders, although to be honest, my taste runs more to Ares, aka the late Kevin Smith. But I just started watching a series which I'd never heard of 'til I googled the actor that plays the main character, and wow, was I blown away. Its name is Profit.

Jim Profit, played by the very handsome and talented Adrian Pasdar (also of Heroes and Mysterious Ways) is ambitious, much as MacBeth was ambitious. An employee of the mega-corporation G&G (Gracen & Gracen), he has his smoldering eyes on the corporate prize. But unlike MacBeth, there is no woman pushing him up the corporate ladder. It's all him. He has enough ambition for ten men. As well as determination. And skill. And a background to rival the most dysfunctional family's.  

***Spoilers ahead****
We meet him at the funeral for the VP of Acquisitions at G&G, a man he's never met, but whose job he is taking. G&G is a family-owned  and family-run business, whether by blood or through marriage.  Jim Profit hits the ground running, beginning with blackmailing Gail,  the assistant of one the bosses, Jack Walters (Scott Paulin, who once played Steven Craig on St. Elsewhere, but that's a story for another time). Petty embezzling, just something to help care for her mother. But in Profit's capable hands, it becomes so much more.

With Gail's help, he gains computer access to the most private files of everyone in the office through a virtual
program, which he runs at home. All during the pilot, we watch him at his computer, sitting before it in the buff (no, we don't get to see any naughty bits, damn the luck, but keep in mind this originally aired on Fox, so you'll understand). As we watch Jim knock down the players at G&G one by one, manipulating his way through every situation, we also learn about him. How his mother died when he was a baby, and his father, with consummate parenting skills, threw the one year old Jim into a large computer box with a hole cut out so that he could watch TV, and once a week, he'd dump in food for him - as he would any other animal. Is it any wonder that Jim turned out the way he did? The last scene in the two hour pilot - well, I won't give it away, but let's just say my jaw hit the floor, and I can't forget it.

Jim isn't entirely unopposed, of course. Jack Walker is determined to show him up for what he is, with the aid of his ex-girlfriend  Joanne (Lisa Zane, formerly of LA Law and ER), who is head of security. I've only watched the pilot and one episode, but I have to say I'm already hooked and can't wait to see what happens.




Speaking of Fox, I just started to watch a brand new series there which recently made its debut - Alcatraz. I'd seen the trailers and not been sure if I was interested, but I gave it a shot, and I'm really glad I did. On March 21, 1963, the prison of Alcatraz was closed, its inmates dispersed to other facilities. Except that isn't what really happened. On March 20, 1963, 302 inmates disappeared without a trace. Now, almost fifty years later, they're coming back, some of the worst criminals ever assembled in one place. The question remains - what happened to them, why, and who's behind it?

Detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones) watched her partner die right before her eyes. In the course of her work, she comes across evidence that a criminal she is tracking was once an inmate of Alcatraz. Her investigation leads her to Dr. Diego Soto (Jorge Garcia of Lost), a comic book writer, who owns his own comic book store, and also happens to be an expert on Alcatraz. Utilizing his help, they search the baffling mystery of the criminal, Jack Sylvane, crossing paths with federal investigator Emerson Hauser (Sam Neill), who isn't what he appears to be.  **spoiler alert**  They end up joining his task force, investigating the 302 missing Alcatraz prisoners. Each week features a different criminal. So far there have been three, Sylvane, Cobb and Kitt Nelson.

I already like the series. The writing is good, the story is very interesting, and the acting is good too. Sam Neill is looking as hot as ever. In fact, even better. I think he's lost weight since he played Cardinal Wolsey in The Tudors. He's looking mighty fine. Hauser's assistant, Lucy (Parminder Negra, ER) is in a coma, thanks to Kit Nelson. We don't really know the nature of their relationship yet, but Hauser is obviously affected by her condition, whether he lets on or not. I like the character of Rebecca - she's strong and independent and loyal. She stuck up for Diego when Hauser was too hard on him. After all, he's not even a professional or a law enforcement officer, so dead bodies are a little out of his purview. This series is off to a great start, and I look forward to seeing more.

On Iron Chef America, we saw Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian in  his second battle in Kitchen Stadium since being crowned the newest Iron Chef. His challenger was Chef Jonathan Sawyer of The Greenhouse Tavern, formerly a sous chef of Michael Symon's on Iron Chef America. The secret ingredient was mint, definitely not a favorite of mine. I wasn't even aware that there were that many kinds of mint, outside of spearmint and peppermint. Although he failed to achieve the perfect score that he received on his first outing, Chef Zakarian handily beat Chef Sawyer, with the aid of his faithful sous chef, Chef Alex Guarnaschelli. I just love their relationship, the banter and the obvious affection between them. I watch Iron Chef America every week now, in the hopes of seeing more of that.  I am beyond excited that Chef Zakarian has taken his place in the ranks of the Iron Chefs. He is without a doubt, my favorite, followed by Iron Chef Morimoto, whom I've liked since the original series.

Top Chef Texas is coming down to the wire, six chefs remaining. For the Quick Fire Challenge, they were paired up and set to work to come up with something quick. Chris Jones and Grayson were the winning pair, splitting $10k. The bad news was that for the Elimination Challenge the partners became adversaries, each making the same dish. Grayson chose chicken salad sandwich, which Chris went along with. Probably his undoing. Paul and Edward chose Asian food, and Lindsay picked meatballs. Then Padma revealed the catch - they had to make healthy versions of these dishes. Poor Chris was eliminated. He pre-made his sandwiches, not taking into consideration the 110 degree heat. Plus he had a bee issue which caused him to rush his blending of his smoothies, leaving unsightly chunks of ice in them, and for the dryness of the sandwiches and the ice thing, he was told to pack his knives and go home. He was my second favorite, but my favorite contestant is still there, luckily, as he was in the bottom three - namely, Edward. Now there's five left, and we're getting close to the end.

Next time, I'll talk about Californication, back for its fifth season, and Grimm and Once Upon a Time. Heat Seekers is back too.

Until next time, take care!

♥ Julie

Double Eliminations, a Birth, and more (Many spoilers)

There were four standing - Chefs Zakarian, Falkner, Guarnaschelli and Chiarello. And the night would hold a double elimination in the battle to become the next Iron Chef.  *****spoilers********The four chefs were taken to the exclusive area of the Hamptons - playpen of the rich and famous - set down on the docks with a budget and instructions to make three dishes. Chef Falkner had the advantage and a headstart. One chef would win the challenge and go straight to the finale. The chef on bottom would go home. And the other two would have a secret ingredient challenge to determine which would go to the finale.

Chef Zakarian secured the first spot, knocking it out of the ballpark with his winning recipes. Unfortunately, we had to say good-bye to Chef Guarnaschelli. I'd hoped to see Alex and Geoffrey in the last showdown; it wasn't mean to be. So Chefs Falkner and Chiarello met in a head to head. The secret ingredients were crackers and wine. What Chiarello came up with looked nasty, to be honest. I wasn't sorry to see him eliminated. Now it's Geoffrey and Elizabeth in the head to head final showdown next Sunday. Of course I'm rooting for Geoffrey. As I said before, he'll bring a definite touch of class to Iron Chef. If he wins, I'll definitely watch it on a more regular basis.

Last night was Top Chef Texas, which also contained a double elimination. First the quickfire challenge in which the chefs chose a type of Don Julio tequila to cook with and made a dish, pairing liquor and food. The winner received $5000. Then came the elimination challenge, in which chefs were paired up according to who they were standing by, and each pair received a game meat to cook. Unfortunately, Heather and Bev ended up together. Bev is a control freak who doesn't seem to get much done, focusing on small tasks, although she was stoutly defended by some of the chefs as a hard worker but I haven't seen much evidence of that yet. Heather, while just in some of her criticisms, was also a bit of a bitch about things. It's amazing they didn't shoot each other down, but somehow they managed to survive. The winners of this challenge were Edward and Ty. So far, Edward is one of my favorites. I also like Chris Jones. The losing pair were Nyesa and Dakota, basically because Dakota's meat wasn't cooked nearly enough and Nyesha hadn't checked on her until it was too late. I only recently became aware of Nyesa, and the fact that I should have recognized her sooner - she was the winner of the executive chef position at the Wilshire in LA, as shown on Chef Hunter. I've seen that episode at least three times, and never made the connection. Alas, too little too late.

So, Hell on Wheels. This is an unexpected gem in the AMC line up. I like it even better than I do The Walking Dead, which is on hiatus til February. It's a rich panoply of life in post Civil War America, involving the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. In last week's episode, Cullan and Elam were pitted against one another in a show of fisticuffs, one aimed to divert attention from the lack of a payroll. Elam won, but only because someone *coughIrishbrothercough* doctored Elam's gloves with pepper juice which got into Cullen's eyes. When Cullen mentioned it in this week's episode - not angry, but rather with admiration for his tactic - Elam denied it. Durant is having financial difficulties, and if he doesn't fulfill his part of the contract, he stands to lose quite a bit of money. He is thwarted by his lack of maps pertaining to the Rocky Mountains - he needs them badly, and Mrs. Bell is holding out for what she feels is a fair price - what he owed her late husband. In the newest episode, we see a father and a son and their respective beliefs clash, as the Indians are invited to Hell on Wheels to discuss being relocated to a reservation. I love Colm Meaney, he's awesome as Durant, and Anson Mount is easy on the eyes as Cullen Bohannon. This is a must see series.

American Horror Story - just wow. This is a great show. Haven't seen anything like this in years. Last week,  as you'll recall, Ben realized that his wife wasn't lying about being raped, and he arranged for her to be released from the insane asylum he had her committed to. Funny thing - she's only six months pregnant, but she seems much farther along. That's because one of the twins is growing at a phenomenal rate - and starving its sibling in the process. Last week we learned the shocking truth about Violet - she actually overdosed and she's dead. Now she can never leave, any more than the others can. When Dad tries to drag her to the asylum to see Mom, she refuses, and of course his dragging her to the car doesn't do any good - she can't leave the grounds. Chad and his bf are preparing for the big event, to Constance's chagrin, who tells them they can have Dr. Harmon's baby, but to leave her grandchild alone. Hayden wants the children too, and so does Nora Montgomery. Vivian refuses to set foot in the house, but she goes into labor in the car, with dire results. One child is stillborn, and Constance whisks the other away right after he's born - and Vivien bleeds out (Dr. Montgomery is the attending physician). Now she and Violet can be ghosts together. This series just keeps on getting better!

All for now. Person of Interest tonight, and Chef Hunter. More about Once Upon a Time next time, Restaurant Impossible and Mystery Diners. This weekend is Bishie Con so I won't be around much. But tomorrow is another day.

Until next time, take care!

♥ Julie