WATCH: This Week In Unnecessary Censorship

post from TV on HuffingtonPost.com on 11 May 2012 10:33:18 AM. © TV on HuffingtonPost.com

Jimmy Kimmel's weekly ode to the FCC was a doozy on Thursday night's "Live!"

Between all of the marriage rights talk and Kentucky Derby coverage, there was plenty of material to work with. So everyone from Joe Biden from the "Dancing with the Stars" contestants got a visit from those suggestive bleeps and blurs.

International readers can watch the clip here.

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Corrie - a bum deal

post from Coronation Street Blog on 11 May 2012 10:24:22 AM. © Coronation Street Blog

A guest Coronation Street Blog post from Katriel CostelloIn our family we love to tell the story of[...]

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The Mad Men Fashion File - Valley of the Dolls

post from Mad Men on 11 May 2012 10:24:17 AM. © Mad Men

Move over, Betty -- you're not the only doll-faced and desperate housewife on the block. Enter Beth Dawes, whose blue eyes are the color and shape of a Wonder Bread circle, and whose Plasticine skin is a flawless cover for her seething anger and resentment. Beth is completely stuck in her situation: While other young women in this world have careers and passions, Beth only has her cardboard cut-out of a marriage -- with a real domestic mess hiding behind it. Her costumes reflect that delicate and empty China Doll existence, with stiffly perfect hair, perpetual pearls, and the same kinds of cool color tones that costume designer Janie Bryant often uses on Betty.

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Chat Online About Mad Men Episode 9 on Sunday
Night

post from Mad Men on 11 May 2012 10:24:17 AM. © Mad Men

Throughout this season, just as in seasons past, AMC viewers are invited to chat about the latest episode of Mad Men with friends and fellow fans on the Mad Men Talk forum.

Want to join the conversation? Log onto the Talk forum then start chatting in the comments section.

Don't miss Mad Men Episode 9 this Sunday at 10/9c on AMC.

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Howard Stern Criticizes Simon Cowell For Hiring
'Train Wreck' Britney Spears

post from Starpulse Entertainment News - TV News on 11 May 2012 10:10:27 AM. © Starpulse Entertainment News - TV News

Howard Stern has slammed Simon Cowell for reportedly hiring Britney Spears for The X Factor as he fears the fragile star will be a "train wreck" on the show. Cowell is rumored to have signed Spe...

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Jackie K. Cooper: Common Law Has Potential

post from TV on HuffingtonPost.com on 11 May 2012 10:09:27 AM. © TV on HuffingtonPost.com

Common Law is the new USA Network series that replaces In Plain Sight on Friday Nights at 10. The show deals with two robbery/homicide detectives who have such difficulty getting along as partners that their boss refers them to "couples therapy." This therapy requirement is the hook of the show. Delete it and this would be just another police drama.

The two LAPD detectives are Travis Marks (Michael Ealy) and Wes Mitchell (Warren Kole). In the first scene of the show they are shown participating in couples counseling, which is led by Dr. Ryan (Sonya Walger). The two men are at first thought to be gay by the group but they quickly explain that calling them partners means they are partners as detectives.

It quickly becomes apparent that Travis is a hothead. He has no problem breaking the rules when he feels it is necessary. Wes, on the other hand, is a by-the-rules guy. He is also a neat freak and a little bit controlling. He is divorced but still drops in on his ex, while Travis leads a life of one night stands.

The hook of the couples counseling makes for a fairly interesting premise. At least it gives a good excuse to have Walger as part of the show. This Lost alumna is a solid actress and adds a flair to any role she undertakes. The same is true for Ealy. He is an actor who has been around for a while and has always been looking for that one special role that will make the public aware of him. This show, if it takes off, might serve that purpose.

After viewing the first episode of Common Law I have had my interest piqued. Walger and Ealy both jump off the screen with their talent. Kole is going to take a little more effort to be their equal. In that first episode he is pretty bland. If the show is going to succeed, these two partners are going to have to find some middle ground between being buddy buddy and being antagonists.

With all the summer shows waiting at the gate to start their runs, the competition is tough. Common Law shows promise but it had better hit its stride and do it quickly. Chemistry is everything -- these people better get in the lab and start brewing it up.

Common Law premieres May 11 at 10PM on the USA Network.

Jackie K Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com

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Michael Ealy Previews His New Buddy-Cop Series
COMMON LAW

post from the TV addict on 11 May 2012 10:06:49 AM. © the TV addict

USA Network has a proven track record for packaging shows that sell characters. They have[...]

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'American Idol' Recap: Hollie Cavanagh Goes Home
+ Final Three Power Rankings

Every year there?s a lurker. That one contestant that you think is going home each week but somehow, improbably, outlasts several other potential favorites and ends up around way longer than you ev...

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May 11 2012 TV worth watching: 'Nikita',
'Fringe', 'Supernatural', more

For Friday, May 11th 2012 LA TV Insider Examiner recommends: Nikita (The CW, 8pm) – “Crossbow” – Percy (Xander Berkeley) calls the President the United States (guest star Cameron Daddo) and threatens to set off a...

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'Mad Men' & 'Game Of Thrones': Are They The Same
Show

Sunday nights are chock full of good television, but let's be honest, they're all about "Mad Men" (10 p.m. ET on AMC) and "Game of Thrones" (9 p.m. ET on HBO). Whatever other on-screen developments occur elsewhere that night, many TV fans spend half of their Mondays with all things Westeros-Draper on the brain.

So I can't be the only one to have noticed just how alike the AMC and HBO dramas are, especially this season, and it's not just because both shows have startlingly similar roster of characters (which you can see in the slide show below). Both even feature a very entertaining wily older man/resourceful young girl duos (Arya Stark/Tywin Lannister on "Game of Thrones" and Roger Sterling/Sally Draper on "Mad Men"). But the similarities go deep, actually.

Both shows feature perfectly constructed costumes and elaborate sets meant to transport us to other worlds -- and they do so successfully, week after week. But these fine cable dramas are so much more than the sum of their exceptional production values: They're complex and realistically contradictory explorations of the games people play to get ahead or to just hang on to what they've got.

Both "Mad Men" and "Game of Thrones" spend a lot of time meditating on the nature and use of power -- how those who don't have it try to get it, the wise and unwise ways in which those in authority wield it, how those with lower status fight to preserve a scrap of autonomy, and how people can give the impression of having control even when they're unsure of where they stand. To be a character on either drama is to face constant flux and change -- not all of which is bad, mind you. The '60s of "Mad Men" are a bit less bloody than Westeros -- we've yet to see anyone's guts on the floor on this AMC show -- but for the men and women of that kingdom and for the employees of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, to count on things staying the same is to court disaster.

And the foreboding atmosphere pervading "Mad Men," where the sense of fear and decay grows by the week, is every bit as menacing as the unsettled mood of Westeros at war. On both shows, it's hard to escape the feeling that something truly awful is coming, something much worse than losing an account or even seeing a loyal retainer beheaded. There's a sense, on both dramas, that an old order and a traditional way of life are going away, and that's exciting and terrifying, sometimes simultaneously. A sense of unease and possibility courses through both "Mad Men" and "Game of Thrones," and it's impossible to predict who will benefit from the passing of the torch and who will pay dearly. As a character on "The Wire" once said, "Deserve got nothing to do with it."

At least these people -- some of them, anyway -- are facing the future wit and wine (or highballs). Both "Mad Men" and "Game of Thrones" get dark, but they both can be damn funny as well. Let's face it: Half the reason we tune in is to hear Roger Sterling's latest witticism and see Tyrion sarcastically tell off (and ideally slap) his royal nephew.

There are many other similarities between the shows, especially when it comes to their fascinating characters. Check out the parallels below, and feel free to add your own in comments.

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