Did you know that you can buy Richard Castle's books? Yes, ABC apparently got someone to ghost write them (and they're keeping who it is a secret). What fun!
Showing posts with label television. Show all posts
Showing posts with label television. Show all posts
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Life imitates art
Ever see the television show Castle? It's about a mystery writer who teams up with a female NYC detective.
Did you know that you can buy Richard Castle's books? Yes, ABC apparently got someone to ghost write them (and they're keeping who it is a secret). What fun!
Did you know that you can buy Richard Castle's books? Yes, ABC apparently got someone to ghost write them (and they're keeping who it is a secret). What fun!
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Dr. House Must Cry
In the weeks leading up to the prime time Emmy awards, there were many articles about the contenders for best actor in a drama series. Hugh Laurie was nominated for the second time in three years for his portrayal of Dr. Gregory House on House, MD, but most expected James Gandolfini to win for his last outing as Tony Soprano. One analyst reported on the episode submitted from Boston Legal featuring James Spader, considered a dark horse to win. The episode was unremarkable, the writer said, except for scenes at the end in the courtroom, where Spader apparently gave an impressive performance, no doubt full of emotion. Spader won.
So here's my contention: Hugh Laurie won't win the Emmy until Dr. House cries.
Hugh Laurie does a remarkable acting job just playing Gregory House as his usual self: sarcastic, caustic, juvenile. Anyone who's ever seen Laurie interviewed can see he is not at all like the character he plays (musical talent not withstanding, but they added that because Hugh has it). It starts with the accent, but it it's the whole deal: Hugh Laurie is gracious and self-deprecating and comes off as a kind person. Gregory House is none of those things.
The problem is, House has a limited range. He gets angry and yells, he's very funny, he's very smart, but he's so detached from people, he doesn't seem to have the whole range of human emotion. The greatest extreme we've ever scene House in is great physical pain. He's never really happy, and he's always kind of sad. It took him overdosing to show that he was lonely on Christmas Eve.
Therefore, whatever episode the producers submit to the Emmy judges, they always get the same old House, played to perfection. What gets rewarded in acting circles is emoting. So, producers of House, MD, please write a script in which Dr. House is actually emotionally touched. And have him show it.
Now, what in the world would touch House if the return of the love of his life, his nearly losing his life, and losing his team do not? Maybe if he realized he killed a patient by making a blatant mistake? Maybe if Wilson died? Or how about, House kills Cameron by mistake?
I don't know. All I know is, Hugh Laurie must be given a greater range to play if he's going to win an Emmy.
So here's my contention: Hugh Laurie won't win the Emmy until Dr. House cries.
Hugh Laurie does a remarkable acting job just playing Gregory House as his usual self: sarcastic, caustic, juvenile. Anyone who's ever seen Laurie interviewed can see he is not at all like the character he plays (musical talent not withstanding, but they added that because Hugh has it). It starts with the accent, but it it's the whole deal: Hugh Laurie is gracious and self-deprecating and comes off as a kind person. Gregory House is none of those things.
The problem is, House has a limited range. He gets angry and yells, he's very funny, he's very smart, but he's so detached from people, he doesn't seem to have the whole range of human emotion. The greatest extreme we've ever scene House in is great physical pain. He's never really happy, and he's always kind of sad. It took him overdosing to show that he was lonely on Christmas Eve.
Therefore, whatever episode the producers submit to the Emmy judges, they always get the same old House, played to perfection. What gets rewarded in acting circles is emoting. So, producers of House, MD, please write a script in which Dr. House is actually emotionally touched. And have him show it.
Now, what in the world would touch House if the return of the love of his life, his nearly losing his life, and losing his team do not? Maybe if he realized he killed a patient by making a blatant mistake? Maybe if Wilson died? Or how about, House kills Cameron by mistake?
I don't know. All I know is, Hugh Laurie must be given a greater range to play if he's going to win an Emmy.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Review: Hugh Laurie on Saturday Night Live
I was still chuckling the next day over the sight of Hugh Laurie, who stands nearly six-foot-three, in drag, wearing a super short skirt and three-inch-spike heels, jumping onto a hospital bed during a skit on Saturday Day Night live the night of Ocotober 28. It was so silly, and Hugh seemed to be having a good time. It was very much more British than some of the other skits (drag is standard British comic fare); maybe that's why he seemed relaxed.
I am no fan of SNL, never even watched it in its heyday. I only watched this episode because Hugh Laurie was hosting, and I must say, it wasn't all that amusing, even with Hugh. How do they write this show? They have writers, I know. But do the guests get to collaborate? In a way, I hope not, because the opening monologue was unexceptional, and I know Hugh can do better (he co-wrote his hit comedy sketch series with partner Stephen Fry, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, after all). The monologue had a few humorous moments, like when Hugh was trying to explain he was from England and could he please have a map to point it out, and they rolled out a map of the United States. But his calling the audience "Sweet Cheeks" made me wince. It was a pale imitation of what he and Stephen Fry once did at a benefit concert, where they called the huge (tens of thousands) audience "Colin." (Colin seemed to be their amusing generic name for anyone and anything, and it was much handier to name that large a crowd that the 100 or so who fit in the studio of SNL.)
Anyway, Hugh, who seemed genuinely embarrassed by the huge response of the crowd when he was introduced, got through the monologue. The first sketch up afterward, of ghost busters thinking a fart was a communication from the afterlife, was a clever joke that went on too long. The skit of Hugh being the guy who travels ahead of the Queen and makes all her strange demands known wasn't very comical to me, but Hugh did so much better than the woman in the skit with him. He sang his song "All We Have to Do" nicely and even elicited a laugh from my husband, but he did it much better on ABOFAL, where it first appeared. During the drag sketch, though, Hugh seemed to hit his stride, and he gave an energetic performance in the last skit, even though it was a pretty unfunny shtick about lawyers who make strange noises when happy.
Overall, I think Hugh Laurie acquitted himself well and proved he hasn't lost his comic chops. (He really is game, having also done Inside the Actor's Studio this year, as well as playing a silly game about etiquette on Ellen Degeneres' show.) SNL, however, blew its chance with me, an infrequent viewer who could have been convinced to watch more often. How it continues to go on and produce successful spin offs is beyond me.
[Cross-posted to Blogcritics.org]
I am no fan of SNL, never even watched it in its heyday. I only watched this episode because Hugh Laurie was hosting, and I must say, it wasn't all that amusing, even with Hugh. How do they write this show? They have writers, I know. But do the guests get to collaborate? In a way, I hope not, because the opening monologue was unexceptional, and I know Hugh can do better (he co-wrote his hit comedy sketch series with partner Stephen Fry, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, after all). The monologue had a few humorous moments, like when Hugh was trying to explain he was from England and could he please have a map to point it out, and they rolled out a map of the United States. But his calling the audience "Sweet Cheeks" made me wince. It was a pale imitation of what he and Stephen Fry once did at a benefit concert, where they called the huge (tens of thousands) audience "Colin." (Colin seemed to be their amusing generic name for anyone and anything, and it was much handier to name that large a crowd that the 100 or so who fit in the studio of SNL.)
Anyway, Hugh, who seemed genuinely embarrassed by the huge response of the crowd when he was introduced, got through the monologue. The first sketch up afterward, of ghost busters thinking a fart was a communication from the afterlife, was a clever joke that went on too long. The skit of Hugh being the guy who travels ahead of the Queen and makes all her strange demands known wasn't very comical to me, but Hugh did so much better than the woman in the skit with him. He sang his song "All We Have to Do" nicely and even elicited a laugh from my husband, but he did it much better on ABOFAL, where it first appeared. During the drag sketch, though, Hugh seemed to hit his stride, and he gave an energetic performance in the last skit, even though it was a pretty unfunny shtick about lawyers who make strange noises when happy.
Overall, I think Hugh Laurie acquitted himself well and proved he hasn't lost his comic chops. (He really is game, having also done Inside the Actor's Studio this year, as well as playing a silly game about etiquette on Ellen Degeneres' show.) SNL, however, blew its chance with me, an infrequent viewer who could have been convinced to watch more often. How it continues to go on and produce successful spin offs is beyond me.
[Cross-posted to Blogcritics.org]
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Review: Hugh Laurie on Inside the Actors Studio
Hugh Laurie looked tired and older than his 47 years when he appeared on Inside the Actors Studio, the Bravo show hosted by James Lipton, on July 31, 2006. Greeted by thunderous applause, he smiled, waved them away, and said, "American audiences. I love them. An English audience wouldn't make that much noise if the building was on fire." This got a big laugh--Hugh Laurie is very funny--which James Lipton stifled quickly by saying the building was officially on fire tonight.
Anyone familiar with Lipton's approach knows that he starts at the beginning of the person's life. He made quite a bit of the many names given to British males (James Hugh Calum Laurie is actually shorter than his father's and brother's names). Lipton also dwelt on Laurie's upper crust education, poking fun at some of the public school slang.
All that was probably just fine for Hugh, who got a big laugh from singing the rowing song Lipton had dug up for him, but I have to admit I was uncomfortable with much of what happened next. Laurie is obviously a great admirer of his father but had a distant relationship with his mother. Asked about his statement that he never shed a tear for his mother when she died, Hugh went on for quite a while trying to explain that it didn't mean he didn't mourn her or miss her. During this time he teared up and actually had to clear tears from the corners of his eyes. Thanks to James Lipton, Hugh Laurie has now shed a tear for his mother.
Lipton's questioning was likewise uncomfortable when he raised the issue of depression. Hugh admitted he had been depressed and had gone to "shrinks," which he found "extremely helpful." I've read that Laurie regrets ever having mentioned the fact once to a reporter, because the issue won't die.
For someone as shy and funny as Hugh Laurie, it must have been excruciating for him to have to go through such personal questioning in complete seriousness. (Whatever happened to acting? Aren't they supposed to talk about acting on Inside the Actors Studio?) He also had to endure many clips from his career, beginning with a 1981 clip of him and Stephen Fry, a very silly Blackadder sequence where he clucked like a chicken, and three or four clips from House. Hugh winces when he hears his own voice, I can only imagine what his face looked like during these sequences. The camera did catch one look of great chagrin.
After the difficult parts, Lipton mentioned the piano in the room. "I thought it was left over from a wedding," said Hugh, before he sauntered over and said, "Awww, it's locked, what a shame!" He then launched into his 1986 song "Mystery." Done with not quite the youthful vigor of the original version, he none-the-less had the pitch perfect timing and delivery which made it very funny. (If you want to see a comparison of the two versions, head over to YouTube.com).
The program included three questions from the audience. The first was one about the plot of House: who would Hugh Laurie like to see House have a relationship with, Cameron, Cuddy, or Wilson? I couldn't tell if Laurie was aware of the desires of House/Wilson "shippers" (relationship advocates) on the web, but he took the question in stride. "Robert [Sean Leonard] might have something to say about it...but, you know, I'm game," he replied.
Being a Hugh Laurie fan with access to the Internet, where very article ever written about him and clips of everything he's ever recorded are available for viewing, I didn't learn much new from his appearance on Inside the Actors studio. I was sorry to see him appear uncomfortable and see him pushed about his personal life. All that being said, man I wish I could have been there!
Anyone familiar with Lipton's approach knows that he starts at the beginning of the person's life. He made quite a bit of the many names given to British males (James Hugh Calum Laurie is actually shorter than his father's and brother's names). Lipton also dwelt on Laurie's upper crust education, poking fun at some of the public school slang.
All that was probably just fine for Hugh, who got a big laugh from singing the rowing song Lipton had dug up for him, but I have to admit I was uncomfortable with much of what happened next. Laurie is obviously a great admirer of his father but had a distant relationship with his mother. Asked about his statement that he never shed a tear for his mother when she died, Hugh went on for quite a while trying to explain that it didn't mean he didn't mourn her or miss her. During this time he teared up and actually had to clear tears from the corners of his eyes. Thanks to James Lipton, Hugh Laurie has now shed a tear for his mother.
Lipton's questioning was likewise uncomfortable when he raised the issue of depression. Hugh admitted he had been depressed and had gone to "shrinks," which he found "extremely helpful." I've read that Laurie regrets ever having mentioned the fact once to a reporter, because the issue won't die.
For someone as shy and funny as Hugh Laurie, it must have been excruciating for him to have to go through such personal questioning in complete seriousness. (Whatever happened to acting? Aren't they supposed to talk about acting on Inside the Actors Studio?) He also had to endure many clips from his career, beginning with a 1981 clip of him and Stephen Fry, a very silly Blackadder sequence where he clucked like a chicken, and three or four clips from House. Hugh winces when he hears his own voice, I can only imagine what his face looked like during these sequences. The camera did catch one look of great chagrin.
After the difficult parts, Lipton mentioned the piano in the room. "I thought it was left over from a wedding," said Hugh, before he sauntered over and said, "Awww, it's locked, what a shame!" He then launched into his 1986 song "Mystery." Done with not quite the youthful vigor of the original version, he none-the-less had the pitch perfect timing and delivery which made it very funny. (If you want to see a comparison of the two versions, head over to YouTube.com).
The program included three questions from the audience. The first was one about the plot of House: who would Hugh Laurie like to see House have a relationship with, Cameron, Cuddy, or Wilson? I couldn't tell if Laurie was aware of the desires of House/Wilson "shippers" (relationship advocates) on the web, but he took the question in stride. "Robert [Sean Leonard] might have something to say about it...but, you know, I'm game," he replied.
Being a Hugh Laurie fan with access to the Internet, where very article ever written about him and clips of everything he's ever recorded are available for viewing, I didn't learn much new from his appearance on Inside the Actors studio. I was sorry to see him appear uncomfortable and see him pushed about his personal life. All that being said, man I wish I could have been there!
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