Based on the popular Colombian telenovela Yo Soy Betty La Fea, Ugly Betty is a biting comedy with plenty of heart. There are several ongoing plots, including murder, illegal immigration, infidelity, a vendetta, and death. And yes, this really is a comedy. Golden Globe winner America Ferrera (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Real Women Have Curves) stars as Betty, a whip-smart assistant at a women's magazine who is clueless when it comes to fashion.
Completing the run of one of the most acclaimed television shows in broadcast history, season 6, part II of The Sopranos will be remembered mostly not for what happened during the season, but for what didn't happen at the very end. Creator David Chase pulled off a series ending that was as controversial as it was surprising and unforgettable, leaving countless fans to look away from the show and to blogs and articles for answers to the biggest mystery since "who shot J.R.?": what happened to Tony Soprano?
Several crises threaten Tony and his crew; for starters, rival boss Johnny Sack (Vince Curatola) is in prison, and the always-tense relations between the New Jersey and New York families are strained through the unpredictable behavior of Sack's surrogates. Then there are the inevitable power struggles that ensue when certain family members are eliminated, by natural and other causes.
British comedian Eddie Izzard (Glorious, Dressed to Kill brings his raffish charisma to The Riches, a sneaky satirical drama about a family of con artists who lie their way into a wealthy gated community. Wayne and Dahlia Malloy (Izzard and Minnie Driver, Grosse Pointe Blank) are travelers--a kind of American gypsies--who get in trouble with their clan and have to hit the road with their three kids (Shannon Woodward, Noel Fisher, and Aidan Mitchell).
The pedigree and history of Nikita's birth and development are easily researched elsewhere--see the season-one review for backstory and exposition. And for lucky fans of the show, season two continues the exceptional storytelling and movie-like feel of new installments about the rogue government spy organization known as Division. Maggie Q stars in the title role, a former Division agent now bent on destroying its evil reign by flipping her legs and firing her weapons at her avowed enemy, with a couple of devastating hair tosses and mega-toned body blows thrown in for good measure.
In Nikita, the CW Network has developed another resounding hit on its roster of solid dramatic series that do a nice job of grabbing viewers from a variety of demographics. With season two starting in late September 2011, this slick package of the 22 episodes of season one is a great way of diving into a show that's among the best looking, most tightly produced, and intensely cinematic on the small screen. The title and the premise both come from the 1990 French feature film and early style-setter from writer-director Luc Besson, La Femme Nikita.
As the 2005 theatrical release of Serenity made clear, Firefly was a science fiction concept that deserved a second chance. Devoted fans (or "Browncoats") knew it all along, and with this well-packaged DVD set, those who missed the show's original broadcasts can see what they missed. Creator Joss Whedon's ambitious science-fiction Western (Whedon's third series after Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel) was canceled after only 11 of these 14 episodes had aired on the Fox network, but history has proven that its demise was woefully premature.
Newly-minted mediator Kate Reed’s (Sarah Shahi, The L Word) innate understanding of human behavior, thorough legal knowledge and wry sense of humor make her a natural when it comes to conflict resolution. Except when it comes to her own life. Kate’s skills are really put to the test as she solves unconventional cases while balancing her complicated relationships with her stepmother (Virginia Williams, How I Met Your Mother), who also happens to be her boss, and the Assistant District Attorney (Michael Trucco, Battlestar Galactica), who is also her soon-to-be ex-husband.
When has it ever been simple in Eureka? Our heroes continue to adjust to the cataclysmic changes in their personal lives following their trip through time back to 1947 when the resident geniuses are presented with a new challenge: mounting a multi-billion dollar space mission to Titan.
Everything you thought you knew about the small town of Eureka is about to change. Sheriff Carter (Colin Ferguson) and the resident geniuses are accustomed to the strange occurrences that make their town unlike any other. But when five of them are shunted back in time to Eureka's Founder’s Day, their return trip delivers them to a present-day Eureka that’s anything but familiar. With new jobs, new residents and new romances in store, it's definitely not business as usual in this small town where the big secrets just got even bigger. Same town. Big changes.
