Melissa’s Musings

I’ve missed writing a column for NGTV the past couple of weeks. (“I wouldn’t say I miss it, Bob.”) Not because I haven’t had anything to write about; quite the opposite, in fact, I have two columns started but didn’t have time to finish them before my self-imposed Monday at 5PM deadline, so they languish in “draft” status. I could …

While putting together the TV Guide over the past couple of weeks, I’ve noticed that ABC is suddenly on our radar again with several new shows that appeal to the Nice Girls. Of the 19 scripted shows on the network, seven have females as the lead character (Cougar Town, Eastwick, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, The Middle, Private Practice, Ugly Betty) …

Every now and then I get sucked into You Tube and stand (OK, sit) in awe of the creativity on display there. Yeah, a lot of the amateur stuff is junk, but some of it is genius. And I’m going to share a few vids with you today because I just used all of my brain power writing up today’s …

No, not Maryann, I’m talking about Sookie. Was anyone expecting that proposal at the end of last night’s True Blood season finale? It was very romantic. Bill and Sookie had just come through yet another life-threatening situation. Bon Temps was back to relative normalcy, at least for a few hours. Bill took Sookie out on a proper date for dinner …

It’s Labor Day here in the United States, the unofficial end of summer and the beginning of the fall TV season. It used to be that summer was all about reruns and nothing new debuted until mid-September. Not anymore. Thanks to cable and reality TV, the year ’round TV schedule is here. I’ve enjoyed some really terrific shows this summer …

For decades the Nielsen ratings system has been the be all, end all when it comes to tracking what audiences are watching. Those privileged few “Nielsen families” (approximately 18,000 homes) have dictated rise and fall of thousands of shows during that time. Those days may be coming to an end, however. Fans of shows canceled for poor ratings have often …

I’m catching up on the TV I missed while getting ready for Comic Con, attending Comic Con, going to my grandfather’s funeral, recovering from Comic Con…my DVR was bursting with new episodes of shows like Merlin, Warehouse 13, Leverage, The Closer, Hung, True Blood, and Barefoot Contessa. Yes, Ina Garten is my hero, why do you ask? As I cozied …

I’m on a plane right now as another Comic Con has come and gone. I’m tired, sore, and haven’t eaten a real meal in days. Ask anyone who’s been to Comic Con and they’ll tell you that’s how you know you had a good time. We have a lot of interviews and show-specific articles coming your way over the next …

Emmy nominations were announced last week, and several Nice Girls faves got the nod (holla Simon Baker!) in the midst of the same ol’ same ol’. While I groused about the lack of Emmy love for True Blood (3 technical noms) and Chuck (stunt nom), I started to wonder if we’d see more new faces at the Emmys if they …

You know those ads for movies and TV shows that show quotes from critics? A couple of years ago I noticed that some of the, shall we say, less than critically acclaimed films coming out were using quotes from places like IMDb and blogs that aren’t known for hard-hitting critiques. Why bother using quotes at all if you have to …