Laura Prudom: 'Once Upon A Time' Recap: August's
History Revealed!

Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 1, Episode 20 of ABC's "Once Upon a Time," entitled "The Stranger."

After last week's bait-and-switch with Mr. Gold (and the numerous clues leading up to this episode), it was fairly obvious that August's true identity was Pinocchio -- but knowing the truth didn't really lessen the poignancy of Geppetto's story. The pain of losing a loved one -- especially a child -- is a recurring theme on "Once Upon a Time" (Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC), and you'd have to be as heartless as Regina not to have been moved by Geppetto's fierce love for his formerly wooden son and the loneliness that his Storybrooke alter-ego, Marco, clearly felt after living without a child for so many years.

Still, it was surprising to see a character we've previously known to be humble and unassuming, as earlier versions of Geppetto have been portrayed, acting in such a selfish way. While it's completely understandable that any good parent would go to great lengths to ensure their child's safety, his decision to send Pinocchio to our world instead of allowing Snow White to go with her daughter was inexcusable. How different would Emma's life have been, if Snow had been able to go with her and keep her out of the foster system? How different would the inhabitants of Storybrooke's lives be now, if their savior had grown up knowing exactly who she was and what she had to do to break the curse?

While Geppetto had no way of knowing what his selfishness would cost at the time, he inadvertently made so many lives so much worse, especially after Pinocchio shirked his responsibilities and left Emma alone and unprotected in the Raskinds' foster home even though he promised that he would watch over her. If there's one thing that recent episodes of "Once" have illustrated, it's that loving parents should never be separated from their children; if Rumplestiltskin had gone with Baelfire, the curse would never have been created in the first place, and if Snow had gone with Emma and Pinocchio had stayed with Geppetto, the curse would probably already have been broken. It's a lesson that Emma has to learn all over again now in her desperate attempt to regain custody of Henry from a proven "sociopath." Hindsight is 20/20, I guess.

These morality plays are what make "Once" so compelling, proving that even heroes are flawed and make bad decisions -- a good lesson for the show's younger viewers. As Marco pointed out to August later in the episode, it's enough that he realized his earlier mistake and tried to fix it, just as Emma is now attempting to fix her relationship with Henry. We can't always see a bad decision until it's too late to turn back, but "Once" seems determined to prove that every mistake can be rectified if you're strong enough to admit that you made one. Regina, on the other hand, just keeps taking one wrong turn after another, so consumed by anger and hatred that she's incapable of admitting when she's made a mistake or accepting Snow/Mary Margaret's heartfelt apologies when she should just move on with her life.

Because of this, she made a misguided attempt to seduce David -- trying to break Mary Margaret's heart another way after the old "framing you for a fake murder" trick didn't work. Since Mary Margaret is already feeling fairly betrayed by David, I do wonder how she would've reacted if Regina had succeeded; could she be any angrier with him than she already is? Regardless, I'm glad that the writers didn't take David there; the guy has already made numerous terrible decisions on the show, but I do believe that he's actively trying to make amends with Mary Margaret, and I think it would've felt like character assassination to make him sink that low.

Even though we saw August's Pinocchio revelation coming, I did appreciate the way the show fleshed out his backstory and piled on the guilt for his abandoning Emma as a baby. I'm intrigued to see how his "disease" progresses from here. It's obvious that he's somehow turning back into a puppet while the curse is still active (although I wish we had more context for why this is happening when the wardrobe was supposed to protect him from the effects of the curse). But if Emma can't see him returning to wooden form, what happens when he "dies"? I'm assuming only the people who know about the curse would be able to see him in puppet form, while people like Emma would simply see him as a dead man, similar to how Regina killed Graham when he'd obviously been living without his heart, thanks to the curse's magic.

With only two episodes left, things are certainly escalating -- I just hope we'll somehow get a satisfying payoff even if the curse isn't broken at the end of this season. When I spoke to Raphael Sbarge (who plays Jiminy Cricket/Archie Hopper), he promised a finale that will "blow people's minds." I'm looking forward to seeing what that will mean for the second season.

Did you like August/Pinocchio's backstory and his tentative reunion with his father? What are your predictions for the season finale? Weigh in below!

"Once Upon a Time" airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Mad Men Recap: At the Codfish Ball

Here's a recap of this week's MAD MEN[...]

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Chris Harnick: 'The Good Wife' Recap: Kalinda's
Got A Gun

Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 3, Episode 22 -- the season finale -- of CBS's "The Good Wife," entitled "The Dream Team."

Tequila shots are on me, Alicia and Kalinda are back ... but for how long? "The Dream Team" brought Patti Nyholm and Louis Canning together to take down Lockhart/Gardner, but we all know the true dream team of "The Good Wife" is Kalinda and Alicia. Kalicia. Not in a romantic way, but in the sense that together, nothing can stop these two. Their relationship is so incredibly fun to watch. I could not be more pleased that the episode picked up with the two of them awkwardly at the bar, downing shots (even if they weren't at the same time) and continuing a bar conversation from two years ago.

"I'm not gay, I'm flexible." The gasps were flying at only about two minutes in.

"We're the dream team." As per usual, "The Good Wife" did another stellar out-of-court episode. After a generous settlement from one of Will's basketball buddies, Louis Canning (returning guest star Michael J. Fox) teamed with Patti Nyholm (returning guest star Martha Plimpton) to sue Lockhart/Gardner for judicial misconduct. Of course, since it's the two of them, there's more than meets the eye. Yes, they wanted to take down Lockhart/Gardner, but they settled for taking away the firm's biggest client and exposing Peter and Alicia's separation. Peter's campaign just got more difficult. It's no secret Michael J. Fox is a great actor and he always delivers on "The Good Wife," but Martha Plimpton doesn't get enough credit for her work as the deliciously conniving Patti Nyholm. When she gets away from "Raising Hope" and comes to play on "The Good Wife," it's a treat. If you're an actor and want to play against type, head to "The Good Wife."

Going up? "The Good Wife" and its love affair with elevators will soon make it into TV history books. The scene assembling Peter, Cary, Alicia, Will, Kalinda and Eli outside the elevator made me laugh more than this show has ever done before. It was pitch-perfect, complete with Will's line about Patti's daughter being the new associate.

Kalinda + Sledgehammer = Ahmahzing. Forget the bat: Your new 'ship is Kalinda and the sledgehammer. The scene where she throws on the glasses, gets the hammer and then goes to town on her wall. Money, a gun and ammo come out of the wall. How bad is her husband? Also, on the topic of her husband: "Alicia Florrick." may be the creepiest line from "The Good Wife" ever. And that's including Colin Sweeney. He's calling Alicia and coming for Kalinda. Season 4 starts when? The way the episode ended with Kalinda perched for confrontation, gun at the ready. Can you say, "Holy crap"?

Will she stay or will she go? Will Alicia go in and have some pizza or carry on with her life? She always gets the emotional cliffhangers. Will Alicia actually sue Jackie? I love how they've cut the BS and just go toe-to-toe now. It makes for incredibly entertaining TV.

"Do you think it was a mistake?" - Will
"No." - Alicia

What do you think ,"Good Wife" fans? Was pairing them off earlier in the season a mistake? Did you like the finale? Excited for Season 4?

Gasp count: Four, two within the first two minutes, one long one at the end.

"The Good Wife" will return for Season 4 on CBS.

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Mad Men Season 5 Episode 7, "At the Codfish Ball"
- Online Extras

In Mad Men's seventh episode of Season 5, Don, Megan, Roger and Pete attempt to bring in new business, while Sally comes to the aid of a relative. Learn more through these online extras for Episode 7, "At the Codfish Ball":

? Ten production stills of Episode 7

? An "Inside Mad Men" video that takes you behind the scenes of Episode 7

? The Episode 7 Ultimate Fan Game

? An open thread for this episode in the Talk Forum (Chat with fellow fans)

Also worth your attention:

? Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce Job Interview Game

? MadMenYourself Avatar Maker

? Cocktail Culture iPhone App

? 45rpm of Jessica Paré (Megan Draper) singing "Zou Bisou Bisou" for sale

? The Mad Men Memo, a weekly newsletter for the show

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Allison Williams On Her Shocking 'Girls' Sex
Scene

Before "Girls," Allison Williams was best known for two things: singing the "Mad Men" theme song with the lyrics to Nat King Cole's "Nature Boy," and being NBC news anchor Brian Williams' daughter.

"It's incredibly great," the face of "Nightly News" told Vulture about Allison's starring role on the polarizing HBO series (Sundays at 10:30 p.m. ET). Yes, even the bracing sex scenes, which included a moment in this past Sunday night's episode that saw Allison's character, Marnie, head into a public restroom to masturbate. Williams said he felt "unmitigated joy" watching Marnie's "awkward sex scenes." But how does the actress feel about those moments?

"A scene like that just gets added to the pile and gets smushed in," she told HuffPost TV when asked about her character's most shocking moment yet.

Starring Williams, Jemima Kirke, Zosia Mamet and show creator, writer, producer and director, Lena Dunham, "Girls" focuses on four women in their early 20s, living in New York. "That's my life," Williams said about the premise. "It's so grounded in reality that it almost feels like a real show. But we are acting, which is an important detail."

Williams also opened up to HuffPost TV about what she thinks was just as difficult as filming sex scenes, her first scene with Dunham (in bed), whether she's similar to Marnie and much more.

How did you become a part of "Girls"?
It has a very odd beginning. I graduated from college in the spring of 2010. I made a video called the "Mad Men Theme Song With a Twist." When I moved out to Los Angeles to start acting and become an actress -- which I wasn't allowed to do until I graduated -- I uploaded the video to YouTube, and I heard within days from Judd Apatow through my agents. "We're doing this HBO series and Allison has some vibe that we've been looking for. Can you make sure she comes and reads for it?" So, I got sent the script and I got sent "Tiny Furniture" [Lena Dunham's 2010 breakout indie film] which -- somehow -- I hadn't seen yet. I was probably in that college vortex of pop culture. I watched "Tiny Furniture" and I don't think I blinked. It felt like she was being honest with me specifically. Then I read the script and I thought, "My God, this is so crazy. I feel like she's been living in my hallway and listening to all my thoughts and she's put them into the character." Obviously I put a tremendous amount of pressure on myself. "You gotta get this part. This will be the one that got away if you don't get it."

You and Lena have great onscreen chemistry. Did you get close in real life?
Immediately. She's one of those people you feel immediately that you've known for years. I have to give her a lot of credit: She put a lot of effort into forging our friendship. I was very intimidated by her intelligence and stature on the show. She was like, "Don't worry about any of that. We're just a bunch of girls in the world. You and I are going to be fast friends." It was true and it happened organically. The first scene we shot was when we're waking up in bed together and they're panning up and I have that beautiful mouth guard in. It's very humbling to have that be your first shot on television ever.

The show is not without shocking scenes, and while Lena has given herself a lot of the onscreen nudity, Marnie's masturbation scene felt incredibly intimate. How challenging was that to do?
I feel like it's an important scene. It's one of many for Marnie. It's funny because there are moments where -- yes, that was challenging, but there are other things that are so hard. Sometimes fake laughing is hard once you've done a scene 18 times. I don't want to brag, but I have a reputation for being very, very good at that. It's funny finding what's challenging about acting as you go. A scene like [the masturbation scene] just gets added to the pile and gets smushed in. It's been really interesting being interviewed and being asked about it so much, because I'm like, "Oh, yeah, well there have been seven episodes since that scene." I also feel like we are showing these very intimate, private and specific moments in our characters' lives and it just sort of is a part of Marnie's puzzle.

The show does have a voyeuristic quality to it.
I think the show is real on many levels. In real life, we do things out of character, constantly. A couple of days ago, my shoes were hurting, so I walked barefoot through New York. Someone who has known me my whole life would think that was so out of character. But I did it because of the circumstances. We have so much freedom -- and I have give a lot of this credit to HBO, because they allow us the freedom to explore the different corners of our characters throughout the series. Wait until you see the next episodes to come. Marnie takes deliberate steps out of her comfort zone to see how it feels. It's so nice to do that. As an actor, it's such a great challenge because you get a handle on this person and then someone is like, "This person is going to become another person, and see how she does it." That's so enjoyable. I think girls will be able to relate to that especially, because when our friends do things that are out of character, it's really confusing and almost impossible to advise them through it.

The problem with "Girls" feeling real is that people might automatically assume you're exactly like you're character.
Which means we're doing a good job.

Right, but does it concern you that people might start typecasting you at such a young age?
I think the beauty of acting -- and the beauty of YouTube -- is that if I felt that was becoming a problem, I could make something. Play someone totally different. The crazy thing about that is that I've never played anyone this similar to me in my life. My whole background is character acting: weird costumes, fat suits, playing men, playing animals -- I've never played anyone with whom there's any overlapping Venn diagram. That's been a crazy challenge for me. There have been so many moments where I've been, "Well, I wouldn't do this, but Marnie would; I would do this and Marnie wouldn't." You're sliding levers constantly, trying to adjust and see where the lines meet. It's been great to explore that and it's been a challenge and a pleasure.

"Girls" airs Sundays at 10:30 p.m. ET on HBO

Check out Twitter reactions to "Girls" below.

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Crystal Bell: 'Girls' Recap: All Adventurous
Women Dance To Robyn

Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 1, Episode 3 of HBO's "Girls," entitled, "All Adventurous Women Do."

There's a scene at the end of this week's episode of "Girls" (Sundays at 10:30 p.m. ET on HBO) where Hannah and Marnie dance around to Robyn's "Dancing On My Own." That was the moment I knew that Hannah had finally won me over. For the first time, she's admitting that she doesn't know everything. It's a humbling experience, but thankfully, Robyn makes everything better.

Even though girls can identify with Hannah's situation -- well, not all girls -- she never seemed extremely likable. Is she smart? It seems so. Refreshingly self-aware? Sometimes. Vulnerable? Without a doubt. Does she need a good smack upside the head? Definitely. But this week, Hannah seemed real.

Not only does she fall for yet another one of Adam's heinous lies, but she also discovers that her college boyfriend is gay and had she been more aware and less emotionally needy in college, she probably could have figured it out. "He seemed gay," she admitted to Marnie.

Despite being cut off from her parents in the pilot episode and losing out on a job opportunity got her extremely inappropriate date rape joke -- which was almost as awkward as Ashlee Simpson's infamous "SNL" hoedown -- Hannah doesn't seem too concerned with her joblessness. Rent is due in a week, but I don't think she really cares. But how is she affording all of these cupcakes? Is she on a cupcake-only diet?

Since this episode is entitled "All Adventurous Women Do" (Jessa says all adventurous women have at least a couple of strands of HPV), here's a few of the things that our favorite girls -- and obviously all adventurous girls -- do.

All Adventurous Women Do Accuse Their Ex-Boyfriends of Giving Them HPV

Last week, Hannah got scared after Adam revealed that he never uses condoms, so she Google searches "The stuff that gets up around the sides of condoms." This results in a frantic -- albiet hysterical -- trip to the gynecologist where she reveals her life-long fear of AIDS.

This week, Hannah discovers that she does have an STD -- HPV, a common virus that most sexually active adults will contract. Unfortunately, despite last week's Google searching frenzy, Hannah wasn't feeling lucky enough to read up on HPV to know that. When she confronts Adam, blatantly lies, telling Hannah that he was just tested "for that s---" and there's no way she got it from him. Had she done a fraction of the paranoid research she did last week, she would have known that men can't get tested for HPV.

Instead, Hannah reconnects with her college boyfriend Elijah, who is now gay (shock!), and accuses him of giving it to her. Unsurprisingly, he's not happy about these accusations. If you've been waiting to see Hannah get a serious reality check, then this might just be your favorite scene in the entire series. Kudos to Elijah for calling Hannah out for being ridiculous.

"I think it was Maya Angelou that said. 'We are only as blind as we want to be.'" Amen, Elijah.

"Book of Mormon" actor Andrew Rannells does a fantastic job battling it out with Dunham, who finally proves that she has some serious comedic chops. "In what way does my father read gay to you?"

All Adventurous Women Do Have Baggage

After abandoning her "Hey Ladies Bible," Shoshanna has found a new obsession to distract her from actually living her life (and getting laid): "Baggage." It's her favorite show on the Game Show Network.

Basically, it's a dating show where each woman has to pick their three least desirable qualities, and put them into suitcases. If the guy thinks they're "super freaky," they get eliminated. Hannah thinks that her baggage is that she's "unfit for all paying jobs," her obsession with cupcakes -- "I just bought four and ate one in your bathroom" -- and her HPV.

If she thinks that's her biggest baggage, then she's unfortunately mistaken. Hannah, I'm going to tell you what your real baggage is -- Adam and the way that you go out of your way to please him.

He plays with her belly fat, tells her to lose weight, never takes her seriously and the only way she feels like she can get his attention is by playing into his sexual fantasies. Hey ladies, this kind of relationship is never OK, but it's also one of those things that most girls will experience. Hopefully, you won't be as blind as Hannah (but you probably will).

All Adventurous Women Do Flirt with Married Men

Our favorite continental drifter may not be pregnant, but that doesn't stop her from wanted to hang out with small children. For the first time in her life, Jessa is getting a job. However, wouldn't it seem more appropriate if Hannah were the one babysitting for money? After all, isn't she the one that needs the money? I always thought Jessa lived off her parents' money. Are they cutting her off too? Or is this one of her many experimental life decisions? The questions are endless when it comes to Jessa. A see-through dress, really?

Not to mention that she was totally hitting it off with the super hipster dad. And by hitting it off, I mean getting high. That's right. It was like a scene straight out of "Juno," except Jessa wasn't actually pregnant and Jason Bateman had much better taste in music.

Where is this heading? I'm not really sure. I'm sensing that this may turn into Jessa's baggage, and for this free-spirited drifter, too much baggage is never a good thing.

All Adventurous Women Do Masturbate in Public Restrooms

Three episodes in and I'm finally interested in something that Marnie is doing, even if I know it's going to break poor Charlie's heart.

At a work event, Marnie meets a successful, young (and extremely pretentious) artist named Jonathan, and it's pretty apparent that the two want to rip each other's clothes off. Surprisingly, they don't.

Although after their evening encounter, Marnie quickly escorts herself to the nearest ladies' room to relieve all of her sexual frustrations. Ironically, this is the first seemingly "enjoyable" sexual experience in the entire series so far. Adam and Hannah have gross, degrading sex -- he thinks her belly fat is funny -- while Charlie and Marnie have awkward, unpleasant sex. It's nice to see Marnie taking matters into her own hands -- literally. If Charlie isn't going to please her, then she'll have to do it herself, and that's perfectly OK.

I'm sure some viewers will hate this scene. They'll think it's gross or unnecessary. But even Conan O'Brien had his Masturbating Bear.

All Adventurous Women Do Dance to Robyn

Yeah, pretty much.

"Girls" airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on HBO.

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'The Celebrity Apprentice': Dayana Mendoza is
(finally) fired

It took several weeks this season on "The Celebrity Apprentice," but Dayana Mendoza is finally out the door.What happened? She was the Project Manager of a challenge all about designing a jingle for Good Sam, and she...


Read The Full Article:
http://www.examiner.com/article/the-celebrity-apprentice-dayana-mendoza-is-finall
y-fired

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TV Tonight: Monday April 30th, 2012

Here's what's on TV tonight on this Monday night.[...]

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Former SNL Star Defends Calling Obama 'A F***ing
A**hole'

"Saturday Night Live" alum Jon Lovitz has taken to Twitter to defend comments he recently made about President Barack Obama.

During a podcast recorded in January entitled "The ABC's of SNL," Lovitz joked that Obama is "a f*cking a**hole" for "saying the rich don't pay their taxes." Filmmaker Kevin Smith co-hosted the show, which wasn't released online until last week.

Lovitz sent a series of tweets early Sunday morning defending his rant and hitting back at those who took issue with his criticisms. Most notable is a tweet in which the comedian wrote, "Last I checked, he's President, not King!":

He also expressed confusion that the issue had been viewed through a political lens:

In response to one tweet, Lovitz noted that Obama is not the only president he has criticized:

Another tweet directed at the former SNL star read, "This is red meat for conservatives who are trying to prove the whole country hates him, you gave them ammo, they're using it." Lovitz shot back at that tweet, saying that he criticized Obama for "lying":

Initially, only audio of Lovitz's comments was available online. Along with his other tweets, he included a video version and noted, "Here's the video of what I said about the President... it's a lot different when you watch it."

The video clip can be viewed below (via YouTube/seesmod):

video details and more

(h/t Mediaite)

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Hard Truths: The Ghost of Harrenhal on Game of
Thrones

"Hard truths cut both ways..."These words, uttered by Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane), are brimming with power and potency and an absolute truth of their own: the hardest truths are the ones that cut us the deepest, that remind us that our perceptions are faulty or our world is off-kilter, that serve to wake us up to some reality heretofore unseen or unrealized.And, yes, the sharpness of the hardest truths--as fine-edged as a Valyrian dagger--can cut more than just the utterer to the quick. In the case of Stannis and his Onion Knight, Ser Davos Seaworth (Liam Cunningham), the reality of their situation injures them both. As Davos tries to demonstrate his loyalty to his king by sharing his concerns about Melisandre (Carice van Houten), it's Stannis who takes umbrage at his comments, refusing to discuss just what happened in the cave (see last week's review), refusing the acknowledge the inherent truth of what Davos is saying. ("I've never known you to hide from the truth," he says sadly.) But sometimes those hard truths aren't just sharp, they're often invisible to the naked eye, a fire in the snowy distance, a shadow on the wind. And, like an assassin in the night, they can shatter our lives forever.On this week's sensational episode of Game of Thrones ("The Ghost of Harrenhal"), written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and directed by David Petrarca, several characters had to face up to some harsh truths about themselves and their potential fates, amid a...

Read the full article at Televisionary (http://www.televisionarytv.com).

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