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The Kennedys Mini-Series Set for 2011

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History Channel is coming up with its first ever scripted project and they sure picked a really good topic for their first – the Kennedys. No doubt the Kennedy family is worthy of its own TV mini series and that is exactly what History Channel will be bringing us come next year (2011).

The new series, which will come as an 8-hour series, has already been casted but is yet to start filming. The present cast lineup include big stars like Greg Kinnear (Pres. John F. Kennedy), Katie Holmes (Jacqueline Kennedy), Tom Wilkinson (Ambassador Joe Kennedy Sr), and Barry Pepper (Robert F Kennedy).

The mini-series will be focusing on the most popular Kennedy family member President John F Kennedy (of course!) but will also look into the story of the entire Kennedy political dynasty. As a story the show will surely be entertaining though we all know it will end with John Kennedy getting shot. Maybe it will just be shown at one of the episodes and it won’t end with that tragedy, which will totally be anti-climactic but who wants a closed ending anyway, right?

Even as early as now the show is already generating much talk not only because of its cast but also because of what critics point out as inaccuracies in the script. Since History Channel is presenting it as a scripted mini-series I guess a little tweaking to make for good TV is allowed, after all if we wanted a pure documentary then we have a lot of stuff on the Kennedys from the network including the DVD sets on both JFK and the Kennedy family.

ABC Family New Series: “10 Things I Hate About You”

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10_things_i_hate_about_youABC Family has a new series and we’ll be seeing it for the first time tonight at 7/8. Their new series, “10 Things I Hate About You”, is based on the 1999 hit movie comedy of the same title, which in turn is based on Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew”.

I am pretty excited about this series simply because it takes me back in time. My girlfriends and I used to watch the movie again and again and again. It’ where I first fell in love with Heath Ledger. Enough of the movie though and back to the present.

If you’ve read the “Taming of the Shrew” or saw the decade old movie (Time sure does fly!) then you already know the tv series premise. It’s about sisters who are complete opposites. The non-conformist older sister, Kat Stratford (Lindsey Shaw), is being pressured by her popular younger sister Bianca (Meaghan Martin) to start dating because their over-protective dad, who equates dating to getting pregnant, won’t let her unless Kat dates. The show is said to be not too different from the movie although the teens now go online and have nicer phones, in short they’re living in this century.

We’ll still have to see if the show disappoints or it will trigger the same enthusiasm among teens that the movie did. As for Shakespeare, your guess is as good as mine as to how he’ll react to the tv series version of his “Taming of the Shrew” were he alive.

Big Love to Show LDS Endowment Ceremony

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big loveBig Love producers may have issued an apology for the show’s upcoming episode but they have also declared that HBO will still air the controversial episode on Sunday. The episode immediately drew the attention of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) or the Mormon church when they found out that the ritual called an “endowment ceremony” will be part of the episode.

LDS gave a statement regarding the controversy saying that, “Certainly Church members are offended when their most sacred practices are misrepresented or presented without context or understanding.” But despite the offence they feel they are definitely taking the high road by opting not to call for an official boycott of HBO according to LDS, “Individual Latter-day Saints have the right to take such actions if they choose. The Church … as an institution does not call for boycotts. Such a step would simply generate the kind of controversy that the media loves and in the end would increase audiences for the series,” a smart move for a group that is often presented in the media in a bad light.

As for HBO they stand behind their series saying that the writers have done their best to ensure that the sacred event which will be shown in the most accurate and respectful manners.

This will be the first time in history that the LDS’ sacred ceremony of endowment will be seen on television. The endowment ritual is an event performed within the LDS temple wherein particular gifts or powers were “endowed” upon members of the church. So far that is all I know of the ceremony and have no idea if I’ll learn more when I see Big Love on Sunday.

Chuck In 3D

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Launch Party For CAPCOM's

Who is your favorite spy? James Bond? I guess he used to be mine but when I discovered Chuck Bartowski, there was no going back. This CIA agent is nothing like the spies that we used to know. Chuck is a Stanford kick out who never really got his due. Now he works for the Buy More, a huge electronic chain, as part of the Nerd Herd. Somewhere along the way, Chuck finds himself the bearer of all the government’s secrets when ex-college friend Bryce Larkin sends him an e-mail. Turns out that Bryce Larkin is a special CIA agent, who they thought had turned rogue. In his e-mail, he encoded the Intersect, the collection of all the government’s secrets. Thus Chuck was introduced to his life as a CIA agent.

There is more to the story than that, naturally, but I would not go into the details here. Anyhow, this TV series is more than your normal run-of-the-mill espionage action. More than the spy action, it factors in romance, family relationships, and of course, general geekiness.

In keeping with the show’s proclivity towards technology, they just released a 3D episode – something that is not all that common as of yet. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t have any 3D glasses handy when I watched it. As a result, my view was a bit weird – I suppose that happens when you don’t have the glasses? It didn’t really take away from my viewing experience as the quips and Chuck’s gaffes were still there.

Anyone able to watch in 3D? How was it?

Eastbound & Down: The Real South

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The Apple Store Soho Presents Meet the Actor: Danny McBride & Jody Hill

When you think of the South, what comes to mind? Thick southern accents perhaps? Mullets? Beer? Country music? Perhaps all that and more. While some of these stereotypes may hold true, real people from the real South know that there is so much more about them and their way of life than what the rest of the (perhaps uninformed) world knows. You have to admit, what Hollywood brings to the screen – TV or movie – is not always the real deal.

With Eastbound & Down, however, we just might get a taste of what southern living is really all about. Danny McBride, the writer behind the series and the main actor as well, wants the world to know that the show is not all about the “Hollywood south.” Instead, he wants to shout that this is the real thing – the real south with real people living real lives.

So what is this six-episode series all about? Amy Hotz of Star News Online wrote:

McBride plays Kenny Powers and “Eastbound” is about his down and out life. Kenny used to have a very successful career as a pro baseball pitcher. He had the money, he had the girls, he had the drugs. Progressively, though, he just seemed to have lost his power on the mound. And then he lost his job.

Forced to find something else to do, Kenny had no option but to put his head down in shame and return to his hometown, Shelby, N.C. To add insult to injury, the only job he can find in this un-glamorous town is with his old middle school, which needs a substitute P.E. teacher. Oh, and he’s so poor he has to live with his brother’s perfect family.

The unique thing about the show is that they found actors who are really from the south. To quote McBride, “When people that aren’t from the south pretend like they’re from the south it just brings out all the cliches and, you know, just all the stuff that you’ve seen a million times. It’s not even that accurate and not even that entertaining anymore at this point.” As such, do not expect any of the usual portrayals we see. Looks interesting to me.