January 2009 News Archive (Page 4)

After Kristin Dos Santos' weekly Lost redux, she always ends with a little segment called "What Lies Ahead."  In this weeks, she not only reveals that Jin is coming back next week, but also has a question and answer session with the producers:

How would you describe the Kate/Sawyer/Jack love triangle storyline this season? Is it given much prominence or are you pulling away from that a little bit?
Carlton Cuse: Not at all. I think we're always trying to find the balance between character-based stories and mythology-based stories, and I think it'd be better to categorize it as a quadrangle. Juliet is very much in the middle of that. In fact, Sawyer and Juliet were last seen together on the island, and Kate and Jack were off the island, so that's something which is interesting to us and we will explore. It very much is a quadrangle.

Damon Lindelof: What's cool about the show this year is that we're kind of picking up both stories exactly where we left off. On the island there's been this big flash of light, and Sawyer and Juliet are standing there on the beach having just seen the freighter explode. For those guys, Kate just left on the chopper five minutes ago and for Kate and Jack, they were engaged, they broke up, she went on trial, he got addicted to pills, he grew a horrible beard...

That was a bad beard.
Damon: (Laughs) Yes, but it's gone now so we'll never have to speak of it again. The fact of the matter is, it's all a matter of perspective; if you're watching the Oceanic Six show then the island scenes are flashback, if you're watching the island show then the Oceanic Six scenes are flashforward. But as far as the relationships are concerned, Sawyer and Juliet have kind of just started hanging out, and Kate and Jack have already gone through the wringer. If and when they all come together, there should be some interesting permutations in play

Last night's episode of Damages was mostly dedicated to Daniel Purcell.

Did he kill his wife? Can Patty trust the father of her child?

Read our detailed Damages recap to get the complicated answers to these questions.

As we previously reported to you, Barney's mother and fake wife will be appearing in an upcoming episode of How I Met Your Mother.  Now, thanks to TV Guide, we got the news on who will play them!

Frances Conroy, best known for her Emmy award-winning role as the matriarch on Six Feet Under, has been cast as Ms. Stinson.  Though Barney's mother has previously appeared on How I Met Your Mother, her face was never shown (though she was voiced by Megan Mullaly).  Is a woman this proper believable as the slutty woman who produced Barney?

Now who will play Barney's fake wife that he's been lying about to his mother for all these years?  None other than Neil Patrick Harris' co-star from Harold & Kumar, Brooke D'Orsay!

American Idol tugged on the heart strings with as much might as possible last night.

Among the contestants that received a ticket to Hollywood were a single mother; a singer multiple sclerosis; and a 17-year old that lost both her parents in the last four years.

Read more about each, courtesy of our complete American Idol recap. Enjoy!

After a good-but-not-great premiere last week, last night's episode was vintage Lost, as the Lost spoilers indicated it would be. It was a thrill ride from beginning to end.

Off the island, Desmond's search for Faraday's mother turned up some interesting information about Faraday's past. As for Daniel himself, he found himself trying to disarm an H-bomb on the island, circa 1954, while Locke sought more answers from ageless Richard.

Oh, and Charles Widmore's past connection to the island is finally hinted at, if not wholly revealed. And they traveled through time again. It was an eventful hour of TV.

Get the full Lost rundown in our recap of "Jughead" ...

OTHERS IN 1954: Richard and "Jones" argue in "Jughead."

What should you set your TiVo for tonight? And what should you say Ti-NO to?

Our staff combs through this evening's television listings and helps readers set their viewing schedules:

• 8 p.m. Can we get to Hollywood already on American Idol (Fox).
• 9:00 p.m. The third hour of season five of Lost (ABC); a female soldier makes a rape accusation on Lie to Me (Fox).
• 10 p.m. Patty tries to clear Purcell on Damages (FX); after two months, Life on Mars returns.

Is this soldier telling the truth on tonight's second-ever episode of Lie to Me?

Brendan Hines stars as Eli Loker on the new Fox drama Lie to Me.

The actor, who has appeared on Without a Trace and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, recently spoke to TV Addict about his new gig.

What can he tell viewers about Eli? Take it away, Brendan...

Eli is the lead researcher at the Lightman Group. He conducts voice stress tests in order to see where the spikes are, indicating possible deception as well as analyzes video to uncover micro expressions. Lightman (Tim Roth) also likes having Eli around because he refuses to lie.

He has taken this pledge to be radically honest. Which not only means being honest when you’re asked something, but saying everything that’s on your mind as well.

Fox executives can breathe a sigh of relief.

With no Presidential Inauguration celebrations on the air, American Idol garnered 25.2 million viewers last night, according to initial Nielsen estimates. This was an increase of about 2.5 million viewers from last week.

As for other primetime pickings:

• The Biggest Loser increased viewership by one million people; while Fringe ruled the 18-49 demographic at 9 p.m.

• NCIS cannot be stopped. The crime show managed 19 million total viewers, despite airing opposite the Idol juggernaut.

• Quality shows such as Scrubs (5.1 million for back-to-back episodes) and Privileged (which was a rerun, at least) need your help. Only 841,000 viewers for the latter? Really?!?

You don't need a microscope to see the ratings for Fringe. They're solid.

Across all WWE events and programs, the road to Wrestlemania 25 is officially underway.

What does that mean for this week's Smackdown installment? (And what did Matt Hardy have to say for himself after turning on his brother?)

We've got the answers with an early report from the taping.

Updates on a couple of the biggest shows around kick off today's rundown of reality television tidbits...

• We've learned the names of the next cycle's cast on America's Next Top Model.

• MTV has renewed The City for a second season.

• It's early, but Ann Marie Boskovich really might be our next American Idol.