Dueling Divas & an Entourage

Last night I checked out Lindsay Lohan's latest effort "Labor Pains" on ABC Family and caught the second ep of Lifetime's "Drop Dead Diva." I'd already caught the pilot of Drop Dead (courtesy of my handy DVR) earlier that day and enjoyed the initial run. It was lighthearted, sweet and sappy but also full of personality and punch. To be sure that it wasn't a fluke, I thought I'd give it a second look before actually commenting to the reading audience.

Of course the premise in this one was nothing new to behold (two women die at the same time, one's soul enters the other's body and returns to earth as a "fish out of water" blah, blah, blah). The difference in this telling, however, is the appeal of the show's lead (Brooke Elliott) who does a great job at convincing us that she's someone else who just happens to inhabit the stranger Jane's body. She's both shallow and sensitive and despite a physical appearance that some might label less attractive (i.e. she's overweight, barely over 5 feet and not blonde), you begin to buy that she was once an up and coming model as she struts around with as much sass and sex appeal as the Size 4 version of her alter ego Deb (portrayed by Brooke D'Orsay). I'm happy to say that on a second pass this show didn't disappoint. Be sure to add this to your list of summer's guilty pleasures.

With LiLo returning to the small screen (and the family friendly programming of ABC where she began her climb to stardom), I thought I'd check out her flick as well. I wish I could say that Labor was as enjoyable as Diva and that while it also had a formulaic (if not trite) plot that it still delivered. But unfortunately I can't. This pic was lacking in any pizzazz. Which is a shame considering what a plethora of magnificent talent appeared in the flick. Aside from LiLo, the pic starred a charming Cheryl Hines, the always funny Chris Parnell and cameos by some fine comedic personalities including Janeane Garofalo ("Truth about Cats & Dogs"), Willie Garson ("Sex and the City") Creed Bratton ("The Office"), Jay Thomas ("Murphy Brown"), Ana Ortiz ("Ugly Betty") and Tracee Ellis Ross ("Girlfriends"). But at the end of the day it was just another story about an ill-hatched plan (an employee lies about being pregnant to keep from being fired) that must be kept secret yet somehow goes on longer than intended and thus (ideally) hilarity ensues. Aside from not being plausible (In this job market can anyone really afford to come to work late every day when there are people lined up to take your job? And in what universe do landlords let you continually pay your rent late?), it just wasn't very funny. This was supposed to be a comedy and I honestly never found myself even remotely amused. Which is a shame when you consider what could have been accomplished by this cast if the material given to them had been worth a hill of beans.

So when both programs rerun this week (as they inevitably do with these cable channels as they like to get their $$'s worth) – skip the Pains and check out the Diva instead.

One last note about last night's programming is about HBO's "Entourage." Last week I wagged my finger at the fellas and suggested that the season opener was a bit of a snore. After last night's ep I wish all the more that they had chosen to kick off the season with Vinnie's movie premiere instead of the ep they chose. Last night's ep was everything the fans love about this show – sexy, funny, sweet and full of movements that made us go "Man, what's happening next week?!" I'll forgive last week's fumble because I know if history teaches us anything, it's that the boys are only going to get better. Til' later…

Drop Dead Diva airs Sundays at 9p ET/PT on Lifetime.
Entourage airs Sundays at 10:30p ET/PT on HBO.

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Growing Pains…

Season 6 of the HBO® hit Entourage premiered last night in a surprisingly (and uncharacteristically) low-key manner. Unlike the start of Season 5 that had audiences waiting with baited breath to discover if there was a silver lining on the dark cloud that was the utter failure of project “Medellin,” fans are most likely expecting to see Vincent Chase return to mega stardom after seeing the boy with the Midas touch re-instated to his former glory as he landed the lead role in Martin Scorsese’s remake of “The Great Gatsby” at the close of last season.

As a season that finally focused more intently on the things that could go wrong for an actor in Hollywood (critical and box office failure, impending financial ruin, camp in-fighting, deals gone awry, and back pedaling over bridges burned), instead of the unending sophomoric utopia that seems always to encapsulate Team Vinnie (incessant sex, a booze and pot bonanza, lush parties and exchangeable tricked out cars), Season 5 was tension filled right up until the last frame. For once, the gang (and eventually Vince along with them), seemed humbled into realizing that he could easily lose his grip on the proverbial brass ring.

It is conceivable then that the writers, after such an intense season prior, would want to wade into this new season more cautiously and take their time re-building momentum. The problem with that is that while it may be conventional to come down a bit after such an intense high – a season opener is not the time to visit the valley. And at first glance it seems that the show's writers get this as last night's episode was actually entitled "Drive." But from the word go last night I kept waiting for something to rev my engine, to make my adrenaline kick in the way it has at the start of previous seasons. But last night’s kick off felt more like a fumble and more like a third or fourth episode full of exposition rather than an opener designed to hook me.

To their credit, the show’s creative team has said for awhile now that they wanted to begin to show some changes and growth in the guys’ professional and personal lives and that this season in particular would address those changes head on. I for one am glad to hear it. To see Johnny Drama in a legit television career, Eric’s brilliance as a business man being realized, and Turtle starting to grow up enough that a beautiful movie star might want to maintain a committed relationship with him is a welcome direction for the show to move into. Even the possibility of seeing Lloyd turn badass agent rather than remain Ari’s assistant/whipping boy for another season is logical and inviting.

But does showing these characters' growth and evolution have to mean losing the fast pace, cutting edge adrenaline and the inside the industry characteristic that the show has become known for? Why is Ari now moving and talking at a snail’s pace (compared to his normally manic, frenetically energetic one)? Why is Vince appearing on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno when Conan O’Brien took it over more than a month ago? Did no one know that this was happening? Could they not have sent him to Letterman instead? Or better yet how about to Real Time with Bill Maher (he is on HBO also after all – it would have been a great cross promo). What about the mention of “My Name is Earl” as a big deal closed by Ari’s new partner Andrew Klein (Gary Cole)? This show has been cancelled since May (and rumors of its cancellation long before then)! Were the writers sequestered without access to television and the trades so that they did not know what was going on in the industry that they are writing about (and of which they are a part)? And other than him actually applying for a license where is the remainder of this newfound "drive" we keep hearing will now be present in Vince?

There were a couple of other minor details that irritated me about last night’s ep, including the fact that no woman ever turns Vince down (and means it). The guy is gorgeous – (do you hear me Adrian Grenier you’re gorgeous!) but COME ON! I have yet to see a girl decline the advances of this golden boy and hold her ground. That’s not to say that there aren’t some men who are irresistible to most women, but even Hammerin’ Hank Aaron must have struck out a time or two up at bat.

In that same vain, I want to like Eric and Sloane together because I adore the fact that Eric is a romantic and a relationship guy, but Sloane’s timing to pop back into his life just as he was beginning to date and enjoy being single frustrates me. Johnny Drama basically took the words out of my mouth with his sentiment that she wanted him back only because he was starting to date other women and that “p*&$@ can smell other p*&$@!”

Despite the dips in this particular ep, it’s still worth taking a gander at if only to see Debi Mazar saunter in (the writers are missing out on potentially great banter like they had in the beginning of the series with such a big mouthed-driven broad amongst a pack of “men’s men” some of which we got to see between Shauna and Ari for just a second last night) and to see Turtle turn into a heartthrob via his romance with Jamie Lynn Sigler. (Is it just me or has Jerry Ferrara been working out on his time off – perhaps in prep for scenes like last night’s rub a dub in the tub)? And despite feeling overall like the ep didn’t move fast enough or have enough kick to it, I will admit to holding my breath during Vince’s Jay Leno interview a bit for fear that something would go wrong and then being relieved when it didn’t.

I'm still hopeful that this season will give the characters room to grow a lot and open them up for more interesting storylines – particularly Vince. Since the show began one of my biggest complaints has been that Vinnie is apathetic to his career and his work ethic is minimal. Perhaps last season's emotional rollercoaster and the haunting image of him being left on his own at the height of his renewed fame and success last night are an indication that he will begin to take himself and his work more seriously. Wouldn’t that be interesting – to see an actor actually care about acting.

Not my top pick of the week this week, but I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

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