"There you go, finding a hidden advantage in an unfortunate circumstance...

...using pain to take you to the next level. Those are the things that turn players into kings."
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I wanted to post this last week while I was home in Philadelphia, but my mother's computer has gotten so slow that it would have taken me all week to finish. So here now, only a little delayed, are my favorite episodes of television from the past year. As I remind you every year, I do not think that they are necessarily the BEST episodes from the year, just my favorites. Be forewarned, there are plenty of spoilers ahead.

So, without further ado...

Sons of Anarchy "Laying Pipe"
This episode completely destroyed me. I was literally in a ball on the floor crying my eyes out by the time it was over. All that really needs to be said is that Ryan Hurst is a warrior and gave an incredible and heart-breaking final performance as Opie Winston. His presence on the show will be sorely missed but he went out in stellar fashion. I really enjoyed the entire season, but this hit me harder than anything else this year and really intensified everything else that happened the rest of the season. It will really set the tone for who Jax ultimately becomes. I said it last year and I will say it again, Kurt Sutter is a crazy genius and he has a phenomenal and totally under-rated cast backing him up.

The Vampire Diaries "Memorial"
Another episode of television that made me cry. I loved the whole episode, but I especially enjoyed the end where they released the Chinese floating lanterns in memory of all the friends and family they have lost over the past four seasons. And then, of course, when Damon refused to participate, he went to the cemetery to rant at Alaric's grave and as the camera pans out we see ghost Alaric sitting beside him listening and he says the best five words of the whole episode: "I miss you too, buddy."  So good.

Parenthood "One More Weekend With You"
This show has really stepped up its game this season. Parenthood has always been a great hour of television, but season four has been absolutely amazing every single week. A breast cancer storyline and a new character who is an Iraq War veteran has upped the stakes this year and every single actor has risen to the challenge. Monica Potter, Peter Krause, Mae Whitman and newest addition Matt Lauria are all especially mind-blowing in their performances. I liked this episode the best because it showed Kristina going through her first chemo treatment and the reaction she has from it in an incredibly realistic way. It also shows us for the first time, the real struggle that Ryan is going through after having lost one of his military buddies and how Amber deals with him and his situation. I really love the characters on this show and all of the actors that portray them. There really is not one weak link. It just continues to make me wish I were a Braverman.

"You made me Senior Partner, I always repay my debts. I'm a Lannister."

A few years ago, I joined Entertainment Weekly's Front Row Panel. I honestly do not remember exactly when or how I heard about it, but it is a community forum where the editors of the magazine ask about different entertainment and pop culture topics. They are interested in knowing what their readers think about movies and TV shows that are out and also about what we like and do not like about the magazine itself. They have a section where you can grade new movie releases and take a weekly pop culture quiz and often send out surveys about specific topics.

More recently, they have joined the Twitter universe and regularly ask their followers to retweet information about TV show premieres and help promote different products. They then choose one of these retweeters to win DVD sets and other fun things!

Last week, I got an email telling me that they were giving away a TV show to a certain number of lucky people. Not knowing what show it would be, I was happily surprised when seasons one and two of the USA Network show Suits arrived in the mail. I was already a fan of the show and I have since re-watched both seasons.

For those of you who do not already know, Suits is about a college-dropout with a brilliant mind named Mike Ross who gets a job as a lawyer at a New York City law firm. He is hired by the firm's top attorney, Harvey Specter, and together they must keep Mike's secret from the rest of the firm. Patrick J. Adams and Gabriel Macht (pictured above) play the two leading men. The cast also includes Harvey's assistant Donna Paulson (Sarah Rafferty), Managing Partner Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres), Paralegal Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle) and Junior Parter Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman). 

The cast is phenomenal and the writing is fun and smart. I was not sure if I would like it when it started, but I very quickly became addicted and I CANNOT WAIT for the new episodes to start again on January 17th!

Side note: I think Janel Moloney and Sarah Rafferty need to start their own club called, "Actresses Who Play(ed) Kick-Ass Assistants Named Donna."

I highly recommend checking out this show and, if you are a huge entertainment nerd like me, I also recommend that you join EW's Front Row Panel immediately.

xoxo
c

ps. In the spirit of the holiday season, I also ask you to remember that there are still many people struggling after Hurricane Sandy. Here are a few sites where you can donate money and find places to help volunteer:
Staten Strong
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
American Red Cross
Habitat for Humanity
Robin Hood Relief Fund
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"No one's killin' any folk today, on account o' we got a very tight schedule."

After three straight days of "all ATX Festival all the time," I needed a few days to recuperate and process my weekend. A few days turned into a few weeks and I am sorry that I am just now getting around to posting about my experience. I went through a bit of withdrawl the week following the festival, but it seemed as if others who attended had the same reaction (and are still craving queso and bbq three weeks later). The overall consensus is that everyone had the BEST. WEEKEND. EVER!

The festival kicked off Friday night, June 1 at the State Theater with a red carpet and screenings of USA Network's Suits season finale and Royal Pains season premiere. After the screening, Robyn Ross from TVGuide moderated a great Q&A with Suits Executive Producer David Bartis, Royal Pains Executive Producers Michael Rauch and Andrew Lenchewski and actress Reshma Shetty. The Opening Night After Party was held at the Stephen F. Austin Intercontinental and included amazing performances by Landon Pigg, Mae Whitman and Alpha Rev with a special guest performance by Jason Ritter. I also got a chance to hang out with Ken Marino and a few of the guys from Children's Hospital as well as Robert Maschio and Neil Flynn from Scrubs.

Saturday morning, after getting about three and a half hours of sleep the night before, I headed back to the Stephen F. Austin where all of the panels were being held. My job for the weekend was to make sure that all the panelists showed up and made it to the correct room at the correct time, which basically means I was running around like a crazy person starting at 9:30 a.m. until the panels were over at 4:00 p.m. trying to track people down. (I may forever be referred to as "the girl in the green dress.") However, it also means that I got to talk to all of the panelists that were there! Everyone was extremely nice and very easy to approach. Saturday's panels were: TV Fantasy Goes Mainsteam, The Creators, Friday Night Lights Revisited, Women on Television, TBS very funny, Book to TV Series, One Tree Hill Says Goodbye, a Love Monkey Retrospective and The Stages of a Television Writing Career.

There were also screenings and Q&As going on at the Alamo Drafthouse and State Theater throughout the day, but if it did not happen at SFA, it was not on my radar.

After an Industry Reception at Austin Studios on Saturday Night, everyone headed over to the Hotel San Jose for the Friday Night Lights Outdoor Screening. Before the sun went down, there were musical performances by cast members Dora Madison Burge, Alicia Witt and Jesse Plemons. This event was free and open to the public and everyone was encouraged to bring their lawn chairs. Once it was dark enough, the crowd got a chance to see the premiere of the new Explosions In The Sky music video and then the cast of Friday Night Lights introduced the screening of the series finale episode. Following the screening, we headed back to the Stephen F. Austin for the Children's Hospital Marathon After Party. Although, I did not stay very long for this because I was so tired from the day that I almost fell asleep halfway through my Tito's Vodka Texas Sipper :o)

"Here's to God and football and, ten years from now, good friends livin' large in Texas. Texas forever."

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that I watch a lot of television. However, my obsession did not really start until college. I watched a lot of TV in high school, but never really paid much attention to specific actors or directors. While it mostly started out as a way to avoid studying for my college courses, it eventually turned into something more than that. Once you start watching a lot of television, you quickly learn to decipher between good shows and bad shows. That is not to say that many bad shows cannot be entertaining, but you begin to recognize the different calibers and styles of acting/writing/directing/etc.

I eventually became the person that all my friends turned to when they wanted to know about new shows or when they recognized a guest star on Grey's Anatomy and could not figure out what else they had seen that actor on. There are more of us TV nerds out there than you probably realize and now we have some place to celebrate that, just like all you movie and music lovers :o)

This weekend I have the esteemed pleasure of volunteering for the first annual ATX Television Festival here in Austin. Beginning tomorrow night, June 1, and running through Sunday, June 3, this festival will bring together actors, writers, directors, producers, music supervisors, studio executives and fans to talk about the past, present and future of television. Operating similarly to a film festival, there will be screenings, panels, parties and live music with some of the industry's leading professionals.

To kick things off on opening night, ATX is screening the season premiere of USA Network's Royal Pains along with an episode from the first season of Suits. Also in attendance will be the executive producers from both shows, David Bartis and Michael Rauch, and Royal Pains cast member, Judy Greer. A few other shows screening this weekend are: Life Unexpected, Parenthood, The Vampire Diaries, True Blood, Firefly, Criminal Minds, a few Web series and even some Hasbro cartoons.

The panels throughout the weekend include Women in Television, TV Fantasy Goes Mainstream, a Love Monkey Retrospective, Music in Television and a final goodbye to One Tree Hill. There will be a discussion between Bill Lawrence (creator of Spin City, Scrubs and Cougar Town) and a few of his friends about what it has been like to work together over the years. Jason Katims will also reflect on his career, which started on My So-Called Life and also includes Boston Public, Roswell, Friday Night Lights and Parenthood. Moderators for these panels and screenings include Meg Masters from TVLine, Robyn Ross from TV Guide and Ben Blacker from Nerdist.

And if all that was not enough to make your head explode with excitement, the Alamo Drafthouse is hosting The Ultimate Children's Hospital Marathon on Saturday afternoon. Cast members Rob Corddry, Rob Huebel, Ken Marino, Erinn Hayes and Executive Producers David Wain and Jonathan Stern will all be in attendance.



However, the event that I am probably most looking forward to is the Friday Night Lights Outdoor Screening taking place on Saturday night at the Hotel San Jose. It is open to the public and includes a screening of the Pilot and Finale episodes and will showcase music from cast members Alicia Witt, Dora Madison Burge and Jesse Plemons. A few of the other cast members who will also be on hand for the event are Scott Porter, Gaius Charles, Michael B. Jordan, Matt Lauria and Louanne Stephens. It should be tons of fun and I cannot wait!

This weekend, there is really something for everyone and if you are not in Austin you are definitely missing out on what is sure to be a FABulous time.

Like I said, I am working for the festival Friday through Sunday, but I will try my best to update Facebook and Twitter with behind-the-scenes info and pictures. And if I manage to meet Kristen Bell, it has been nice knowing you all because, I will probably die of excitement :o)

xoxo
c

For more ATX  Festival information:
http://www.atxfestival.com/

For Children's Hospital Marathon information: http://drafthouse.com/movies/the_ultimate_childrens_hospital_marathon/austin
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Lemon: I just want to let you know that it does not make you any less of a woman that you yourself have no wedding plans...

...or a boyfriend or even the prospect of one, because that little doctoring job you have can keep you busy for years to come and we have a great tradition of dignified spinsters down here.

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Even though I have been really bad about updating my blog the past few months, I have definitely not stopped watching television. A few new shows started this Spring, some good and some not-so-good. Here are a few thoughts on what has been going on most recently.

A few of the new shows that I have been watching are Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23, Girls and Scandal.

I am pretty picky about which sit-coms I watch, but I have really enjoyed Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23. James Van Der Beek is hilarious, but I am glad that he is not the main focus of the show, and I have liked Krysten Ritter since she was on Veronica Mars and Gilmore Girls. It was just renewed for a second season and I am very excited to see what other craziness they come up with. Will James win Dancing With The Stars?! :o)

Girls, on the other hand, I am not quite sure about yet. I have watched the first few episodes and while I do not hate it, I also do not love it. As a twenty-something woman myself, I just do not really feel a connection to any of the characters. It has smart writing and parts of it are definitely funny, I just cannot get into it.

I was not sure about Scandal when it started. Something about the way they promoted the show just did not appeal to me. However, after hearing all the great buzz about it once it premiered, I decided I had to give it a try and I am very glad I did. The first season was short, but very high paced and incredibly entertaining. It did not go where I expected it to, but that made it all the more intriguing. I have heard that creator Shonda Rhimes wants to make season 2 a short one as well so that she can keep up the pace of the storyline and I am totally on board for that. While I do not enjoy waiting longer for new seasons, sometimes shows stretch things out too much just to fill twenty (or more) episodes.