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Caption It: Which Caption Should Win?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:30:40 -0700

Edie Falco's expression in this picture from Nurse Jackie inspired some great captions last week.

But there can only be one winner! Here are this week's Caption It finalists:

"Is that a scrunchie in your hair? Please don't tell me that's a scrunchie in your hair."
"You don't even want to know the places I could shove this stethoscope. . . ."
"You found a what where? Are you pullin' my stethoscope?"
"No, I am not Tony Soprano's wife."

Photo courtesy of Showtime

Caption It!

BuzzSugar — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:45:14 -0700

Welcome to the Caption It game on BuzzSugar! Every Wednesday, I'll post a photo still from a TV show or movie here and challenge you to think of the most hilarious caption possible. I'll announce the finalists the following Tuesday, and you'll get to vote for the best caption!

First, let's wrap up last week's challenge. At the time I wrote this post, an anonymous commenter was winning the poll with this caption:

"I warned you that Midas was touchy-feely. . . ."

Woo-hoo! Congrats, oh nameless one. Now on to this weeks challenge from Nurse Jackie:

Leave your captions in the comment space below before 5 p.m. PDT on Monday, July 6 to be considered for a spot in the voting round. Have fun!

Photo courtesy of Showtime

Does Nurse Jackie Discourage People From Nursing?

BuzzSugar — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:15:14 -0700

If any buzz is good buzz, then Showtime execs must be mighty pleased right now as nurses react to the new series starring Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie. Falco's lead character is no Florence Nightingale . . . well, unless Nightingale also snorted drugs, had sex on the job, and stole money, just to name a few of Nurse Jackie's proclivities. Some real-life nurses have expressed their anger and dismay:

"I don't know what they wanted from us," said [Barbara] Crane, a nurse in the intensive care unit at St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown, N.Y., and president of the National Federation of Nurses. "I have no clue what the screening was supposed to be about," she said. "They couldn't think that those of us in the most ethical profession - and we are the most ethical profession - that we could possibly find that entertaining."

The folks at Showtime maintain that it's just entertainment and "negative publicity is publicity." Plus, plenty of nurses are actually praising the show for presenting a nurse character "with such smarts, fierce dedication to her patients and human contradictions." But Tina Gerardi, chief executive officer of the New York State Nurses Association, has concerns that the show will discourage people from joining the nursing profession.

Do you think TV shows are that influential? Will would-be nurses avoid the profession because of Nurse Jackie?

Photo courtesy of Showtime

Buzz News Roundup, 6/10

BuzzSugar — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:30:44 -0700

After just one episode, Nurse Jackie has been renewed for a second season. - TV.com
Rosie O'Donnell may star in a Broadway revival of the 1937 Rodgers and Hart musical Babes in Arms. - Variety
David Letterman beat Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show for the first time on Tuesday. - The Hollywood Reporter
The Screen Actors Guild has officially approved a new contract. - New York Times
Jay Leno promos and mini-monologues will air every night this Summer at 10 p.m. - Variety
Director Rob Cohen will direct the action film Medieval, described as "The Magnificent Seven in the Middle Ages." - ComingSoon
Plus-size model Emme will host Fox's dating series More to Love. - The Hollywood Reporter
Aretha Franklin, Wyclef Jean, Queen Latifah, Josh Groban, and TLC will headline a tribute concert honoring Nelson Mandela on July 18 in New York. - Billboard

Photo courtesy of Showtime

TV Tonight: Weeds and Nurse Jackie

BuzzSugar — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:30:15 -0700

"The Hemptress" is back - and this time, she's bringing a friend. Weeds returns to Showtime tonight to start its fifth season, and the network is using that opportunity to launch a high-profile and intriguing new series, Nurse Jackie.

I'm especially curious to see what this season of Weeds will hold considering the total transformation the show undertook last year. (Yes, this would be your cue to stop reading if you haven't seen season four.) The show officially shed Nancy's roots as a small-time suburban dealer, moving the show to the Mexican border and plunging Nancy into a relationship with a powerful Mexican mayor-slash-drug lord. Now, Nancy's told Esteban she's pregnant with his child; when season five starts, that baby seems to be the only thing keeping her family out of serious danger.

Following Weeds, we'll get our first look at Nurse Jackie, one of the more interesting new series to come along in a while. The show stars Edie Falco as a nurse with a drug habit and a very particular sense of justice (for example, the first episode involves a scene where she flushes a patient's ear down the toilet). Jackie's attitude is probably best summed up by her mantra - "Make me good, God, but not yet" - and the episodes I've seen are both smart and darkly funny.

Will you be tuning into either show tonight? To watch some behind-the-scenes clips of both shows, just read more.

Photos courtesy of Showtime

Check Out Nurse Jackie Right Here, Right Now

BuzzSugar — Thu, 28 May 2009 12:30:11 -0700

One of the Summer TV shows that's high on my list is Showtime's Nurse Jackie, a new half-hour dark comedy that premieres June 8 alongside the new season of Weeds.

The show stars Edie Falco as Jackie Peyton, a nurse with a complicated history and a somewhat twisted relationship with justice. She truly wants what's best for her patients, but that makes her a bit of a renegade, putting her on the wrong side of doctors, families, and maybe even the law. Her personal life is equally fraught with conflict, and - like another fictional health professional we know and love - she depends on a cocktail of strong drugs to get her through her days.

If you don't have Showtime or just want to check out the show before you commit, I've got the whole first episode right here. Also, if you live in one of 10 cities around the country, you might be able to see the show's first two episodes on a movie screen June 3. Interested? To get a peek at the pilot, just read more.

Photo courtesy of Showtime

TCA Tidbits: Nurse Jackie, Call Girls, Henry VIII, and More

BuzzSugar — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:30:46 -0800

It's NBC's turn to present at the TCA press tour today, but before they take the stage, I wanted to pass along some of the remaining goodies from the CBS and Showtime presentations. I've got lots of good stuff - including an interview with United States of Tara and Rachel Getting Married star Rosemarie DeWitt -that I'll share in the coming days, but for now, some highlights from Wednesday's panels:

Showtime's Nurse Jackie, which stars Edie Falco, is about a woman who's the absolute best nurse imaginable but also has serious human flaws - namely a severe addiction to pharmaceuticals (and an affair with her pharmacist). The show will premiere later this year and be paired with Weeds. Two of the show's executive producers are recovering addicts, so that part of things should feel very real - but that doesn't make it somber. "We love addictions," cracked executive producer Linda Wallem. "We think they're hilarious and great."
The lovely Joss Stone came by to discuss her role as Anne of Cleves on The Tudors. It's her first real acting job and not an easy one to jump into, but she said that was OK: "I prefer to do that. I like to go headfirst into whatever it is." She said she also appreciated knowing that - unless the producers were seriously changing history - she wouldn't be leaving the show with her head cut off.
Speaking of which, if you're waiting for the part of the show where Jonathan Rhys Meyers gets ugly and fat to play King Henry, well, don't hold your breath.

To hear some funny revelations from the Secret Diary of a Call Girl panel, read more.

Where else at TCA besides the Secret Diary of a Call Girl panel would you hear someone say something like, "We had a dominatrix on set . . . we really needed her around"? Their session - with the lovely Billie Piper, who gave birth less than 12 weeks ago and was absolutely radiant - contained all kinds of fascinating revelations, including how producer Rebecca de Souza met the actual call girls who advise her on the show (she found them on the Internet, naturally).

Also interesting: People in London tended to be more prudish and taken aback by the show's sexual content, Piper said, while US audiences seemed more open-minded.
CBS has a 13-episode murder mystery show called Harper's Island premiering this Spring, and while story will end definitively after the 13 weeks with only one character left standing, the producers said they could imagine other shows following the same format airing on CBS in the future - which led to lots of jokes about "Harper's Spaceship" and, once the shows have killed off enough characters, "Harper's Zombies."
Moonlight fans, take note: CBS wants to do a deal with Alex O'Loughlin and is developing a show for him.
This American Life still has a place at Showtime and the executives are talking to Ira Glass about upcoming stories.

On to NBC - where we'll get some details about the still-untitled Amy Poehler show! Check back this afternoon for updates.

Photos courtesy of Showtime

First Look: Nurse Jackie and The United States of Tara

BuzzSugar — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 06:30:14 -0700

Showtime's got several intriguing new shows on its roster, and recently, the network released first glimpses of two of them: The United States of Tara and Nurse Jackie, both of which have intriguing actresses in the lead roles.

The United States of Tara, which premieres in January, stars Toni Collette as a woman with multiple-personality disorder. The clip has some scenes from the show, and in between those, the stars (and writer Diablo Cody) talk about how the project came together out of an idea from Steven Spielberg.

Nurse Jackie, which stars Edie Falco as a nurse walking the line between saint and sinner, doesn't have a premiere date yet, but I've been curious about it ever since I saw a haunting trailer for it back at TCA. Unfortunately, this clip doesn't have quite the drama of that trailer, but it's still nice just to get an idea of what the show will look like.

Do you have your eye on either show? You can watch the trailers if you read more.

Photos courtesy of Showtime

TCA Tidbits: Bluths, The Ex List, Showtime Series, and More!

BuzzSugar — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 05:45:39 -0700

Wow, that was one whirlwind weekend here at the TCA press tour. CBS, Showtime, The CW, and NBC's cable networks have all been on stage, plus the Television Critics Association took a break from the panels to deliver some honors of its own. I've heard lots about the new 90210, been bowled over by the hilarity of The Ex List's showrunner, and heard references to The Wire and Arrested Development - in the same session! Here are some of my favorite bits:

First off, have you read about what's coming up on Friday Night Lights yet? Seeing the cast together again was hands-down one of the highlights of this press tour so far.

Another highlight: Seeing Showtime's trailers for both The United States of Tara and Nurse Jackie - the latter of which just got picked up as a series. Bottom line: I'm very curious to see more from both. Tara stars Toni Colette as a mother with multiple personalities (we saw at least three in the three-minute trailer) whose family alternately resents her disorder and appreciates how different it makes them. Jackie stars Edie Falco as a sharp-tongued, occasionally devious nurse whose motto seems to be "Make me good, God, but not yet" and has her turning to one controlled substance or another to quash her persistent back pain. The trailers were both extremely well-produced, which gives me great hope for the full-length versions.

One of the contenders for best quote of the press tour: Jessica Walter of 90210 on what makes her new character, grandmother Tabitha Wilson, different from Lucille Bluth. "Lucille liked vodka and Tabitha likes scotch." She went on to explain that the fact that she's gotten her family to move to Beverly Hills to help her stay sober is another difference: "I promised them I'm going to try," she said. "Lucille never really tried."
By the way, Walter once referred to the Bluths in the past tense, then corrected herself: "The Bluths were so dysfunctional - are still so dysfunctional. We hope they're going to be making a movie." Someone hurry up and confirm it already!

To see who the TCA honored at its awards, meet my new favorite woman in Hollywood, and get some news from Bravo and NBC's other cable networks, just read more.

Mad Men, 30 Rock, and John Adams were among the big winners at Saturday's TCA Awards. There are lots of great dispatches from the night; here's one funny one, and here's another.

I liked The Ex List well enough when I watched the pilot, but I will most definitely be paying attention now that showrunner Diane Ruggiero has completely won me over. She charmed the whole room on Friday during her session, telling stories about accidentally dumping an ex-boyfriend's Mount St. Helen's ashes all over his carpet ("That's when you go, 'I guess we broke up . . . '") and being cute ("kind-of-ish") in New Jersey but invisible in Los Angeles. When one of the many older male reporters here asked her why there was so much "vaginal humor" in the pilot, Ruggiero immediately responded "I actually let my vagina write half of the script." Zing!
Sunday's sessions with NBC's cable networks were dizzying for all their news, but here are just a few highlights: Make Me a Supermodel and The Real Housewives of New York City will both be getting second seasons on Bravo; The Rachael Zoe Project premieres Sept. 8; Top Chef: Masters and Fashion House, which sounds vaguely like it could be groomed into a Project Runway replacement, are both in development; USA has ordered a second season of In Plain Sight; Mark Feuerstein has signed on for a USA pilot about a doctor who becomes the MD for the rich and famous; and the new season of The Janet Dickinson Modeling Agency will start in August and have Janice living with the models in the same house for the first time. Whew!

Still to come: Lots of news from NBC, plus visits to the set of Pushing Daisies and Chuck, so stay tuned!

Photos courtesy of Showtime and Source