Against the backdrop of hell on earth and through an often exhilarating electrical charge of warm and fuzzy sentiment, the series finale of Smallville did what it needed to do: It finished the circuit on an epic coil of story that began 10 years ago. In the finale (entitled “Finale”), Superboy reached maturity and became a true Man of Steel. After a decade of “no flights, no tights,” Tom Welling donned Superman’s cape and soared.
Lynne alert! The banished Housewife was back, her mouth still hanging open from Fernanda’s clumsy revelation that the trainer and Tamra had sloppy drunk-kissed over a year ago. There was hot gossip to discuss over drinks, but Lynne needed Tamra to talk real slow. “Are you guys an item now?” she asked with her drowsy slur. Tamra adores nothing more than being the center of attention, especially if she imagines the scandal makes her seem sexy. There may have been tongue, she allowed, but absolutely no nipple tweaking.
It’s official: Paula Abdul will join Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole and LA Reid as judges on Fox’s The X Factor. Abdul just appeared on stage at the first round of judged auditions in Los Angeles. The hire rejoins the two most popular American Idol judges on a new singing competition that will launch this fall. Despite Cowell and Abdul’s previous on-air chemistry, Abdul wasn’t necessarily an obvious choice for the project.
90210 It’s been a long, ridiculous season full of unfortunate story lines (remember Javier?), but “90210” seems to have finally hit its stride. Jessica Lowndes’ Adriana is prime-time-soap evil, switching the meds that belong to her bipolar ex-bestie Silver (Jessica Stroup) as revenge for stealing her man. Hell, even Shenae Grimes’ insufferable Annie is not completely annoying trying to cheer up a suicidal actress. If only the show could find the right match for AnnaLynne McCord’s Naomi. Sorry, dating a geek is so last millennium. “B”
Image Credit: Jack Rowand/The CW It’s been a rough year for sports heroes. Barry Bonds was busted for lying about steroids. Tiger Woods was exposed as a philanderer. Kobe Bryant was caught on video using a hateful slur to disparage a referee. And then, of course, there was that certain one-time championship talent, celebrated for its capability to outlast, outwit, and outplay his competitors, who still can’t straighten himself out with the Internal Revenue Service. The flaws and foibles and offensive f-ups of our cultural idols offer us an invitation to reflect on our own moral integrity, capacity for forgiveness, philosophy ...
Gossip Girl And to think I was really starting to miss Gossip Girl after the six-week hiatus. Unfortunately, tonight’s return is both confusing and tiresome. It’s hard to care much about Serena’s cousin Charlie (Kaylee DeFer), who’s been living on a houseboat in Florida and has a yawn secret past. Throw in a snoozer of a story involving Raina’s (Tika Sumpter) mother and the reemergence of Vanessa (Jessica Szohr) and you will be ready to flip the channel. Thank Bergdorf’s for Blair (Leighton Meester) and Dan (Penn Badgley), whose non-romance is the most exciting this show has seen ...
House The departure of Thirteen (Olivia Wilde) from House was as mysterious as it was abrupt. Her reappearance tonight is no different, as she walks out of prison and toward a waiting House (Hugh Laurie). But the dark hour is somewhat lightened as the pair take a road trip, during which House learns the reason Thirteen was incarcerated. ”This secret she is carrying is more painful and important than any other that she is divulged to him before,” Wilde teases. We could reveal what it is, but as House quips in the episode, ”Some puzzles are too good to share.” ...
The good news for the Jersey Shore cast: They’re getting a massive raise. The other good news: They get to spend it shooting next season in Italy. And the bad news is … actually, for the Shore cast, there is no bad news. Didn’t you read the above? The cast is being paid a big amount of money to get drunk and screw around in Italy. For the Shore stars, there is no downside.
Image Credit: Matt Sayles/AP Images Not everybody was prepared for the onslaught of ooze. “I’m never having children!” screamed Russell Brand, who was there to present an award with Modern Family’s Rico Rodriguez but found himself dodging unexpected handfuls of slime from the soaked children in the mosh pit.
United States of Tara Tara would be good with star Toni Collette playing only the show’s rational namesake character, but it’s great when Collette brings out more of Tara’s fascinating ”alters,” or multiple personalities. The season opener with Tara heading back to college seems alters-free that is, until all four of the weirdo personalities arrive in the last few minutes, fully energized and ready to help her navigate her dark ride through academia. It’s clear then and there it’s gonna be a wonderful season. B+ Tanner Stransky