Yes, that is the squealing of millions of fanboys and girls you hear.
Just when I thought that my love for Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas couldn't increase, I learned one tiny little thing that made my heart surge: he and Kristen Bell have begun conversations about possibly developing a feature film version of Veronica Mars.
Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has the scoop about the possible feature, which is said to be in the early stages of discussion. "Kristen and I ran into each other, and we did discuss a Veronica movie," Rob Thomas confirmed to Ausiello. "It's very tough to focus on it right now with two pilots on my plate [...] But as soon as I have any free time, that's my top priority."
Wowzers. Though with Thomas currently waiting to learn the fate of the two drama pilots waiting for a pickup at ABC (Cupid and my favorite, Outrageous Fortune), it might be a while before Thomas is free to pursue a feature version of everyone's favorite blonde sleuth.
Personally, I'd rather the duo reunite for a six-episode Veronica Mars limited series than begin the arduous process of bringing a two-hour Veronica feature film to fruition but I'll take any Neptune-related goings-on with much appreciation.
Stay tuned.
I'm curious how all of you spent this glorious Fourth of July weekend.
Me, I spent it doing what I love best: sitting around and watching television. In this case, Mrs. Televisionary and I spent a long, lazy weekend rewatching an old favorite, Veronica Mars Season Two on DVD.
I have to say that the trip back to Neptune was just as fun the umpteenth time as it was the first. Longtime readers of this site know my love of all things Veronica Mars so it was an absolute blast to walk back down the corridors of Neptune High and piece together the mystery of the sophomore season's main mystery, the bus crash. Of course, time fades certain memories (so THAT's what Kendall was doing in Duncan's shower) but you couldn't peel the smiles off of our faces during the 20-odd episodes of Veronica Mars' second season.
In Veronica Mars, creator Rob Thomas and his talented staff had accomplished what few others in American television (save maybe David Lynch and the writers on Twin Peaks) had done. Using high school as a backdrop, they created a fantastic noir world, utilizing the dusty tropes of that forgotten subgenre: plucky private eyes, menacing biker gangs, femme fatales aplenty, and setting it all against the most horrific personal hell any of us ever endure: high school.
Like Buffy before it, Veronica Mars found the perils and pitfalls of adolescence the perfect springboard to explore mysteries both big and small, but the the juiciest were usually the ones that involved our spunky heroine directly: the murder of best friend Lily Kane, the bus crash and the murder of Curly Moran (remember how he washed up ashore with V's name written on his hand?), the Hearst College serial rapist.
As for those that didn't directly involve her (but did allow her to earn some scratch, which she seemed to have spent on gorgeous little ensembles), the cases were often just as labrynthine, even if they were contained to single episodes, and often involved a revolving cast of familiar faces from Neptune High. While the series succeeded at quite a many things, one of its strengths was in the consistency of the student body and the return of former guest stars.
And while the outcome of Veronica Mars' second season is now no longer shocking once you've seen it once through, it's been absolutely fantastic to take a trip down memory lane and relieve those moments that later seem positively shocking: Cassidy and Mac's adorable courtship; Logan's predatory pursuit of Hannah; Meg's secret pregnancy; poor Grace being kept locked in the closet; Duncan's disappearance with his newborn daughter. That these are just the footnotes to a deliriously complex mystery only makes Veronica Mars' sophomore season that much more delicious.
But do yourself a favor and return to Neptune for a spell. You'll thank me afterward.
I spent this weekend catching up on reading the growing stack of pilot scripts in my living room, a daunting challenge given how many scripts I still have to read but I was propelled forward by the fact that I did at least have a script written by Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars) to look forward to.
The alternately hilarious and touching Good Behavior script, for Thomas' US adaptation of New Zealand series Outrageous Fortune set up at ABC, was a thing of beauty: fast-paced, quick-witted, and, well, pretty damn fun. (It's like The Riches crossed with Shameless, blended together with the bleak humor of Veronica Mars, and served straight up in a chilled martini glass.)
The plot revolves around the West family who, after their father is arrested and sentenced to five years in prison, are forced to go straight by their domineering mother. There are hints of some of the familiar themes of Veronica Mars at work there: class warfare, morality struggles, and the exploration of a city's seedy underbelly (here, greater Las Vegas). There's also a character in teenager Roxy who completely reminds me of Veronica in the best possible way, complete with her grifting ways and maturity way beyond her years.
But the very best role in Good Behavior is that of series lynchpin Jackie West, the long-suffering mater familias who is a hellion on wheels, a woman not above wielding a shotgun to deter a man threatening one of her kids or smacking some sense into them herself. This is the sort of role that people claim doesn't exist for women over 40: brave, bold, and unflinching. E!'s Watch with Kristin claims that Rene Russo is circling this role and, if I were ABC, I'd do anything and everything in my power to get Russo to sign those papers. She would kill as Jackie.
That said, I was really hoping that this was the Rob Thomas project that Kristen Bell was allegedly interested in joining, but I don't really see a role here suitable for her in Good Behavior, other than the small part of Tawny West. This is at its heart an ensemble piece and I don't see Bell taking a role that's so second banana at the moment, especially coming off of her upcoming turn in feature Forgetting Sarah Marshall or her role on Heroes.
Tawny, a bit of a slutty tearaway, would be a different type of role for Bell, who would have nailed the grittier role of Veronica-esque Roxy a few years back, but I don't know that she would want to take on another teen role after the demise of Veronica Mars. (That scene of her sauntering through the deserted halls of her high school while calmly sucking on the straw of her soft drink contained memories of our girl V, especially when she pulls out that hall pass, obtained by blackmailing the school principal.)
Which leads me to wonder if the project that will reunite Bell and Thomas is in fact ABC's Cupid. Casting is underway on the Rob Thomas-scripted remake of his 1998 series, which starred Jeremy Piven and Paula Marshall; the pilot will be directed by Bharat Nalluri (Life on Mars, Spooks, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day). I could definitely see the brainy but beautiful Bell pull off the role of Dr. Claire Allen, psychiatrist and possible love interest for Trevor Hale, a man claiming to be the god of love. It would be ideal casting, in fact.
Meanwhile, sources tell me that an offer has been made to Bobby Cannavale (The Station Agent) to star in Cupid as the aforementioned Trevor. I like the genial Cannavale but I am having a hard time imagining him as the is-he-crazy-or-is-he-really-Cupid series lead here. It's a challenging role and whoever is cast will really have to work hard to distance themselves from Piven's memorable performance in the original series.
Still, I can't help but think that Cannavale and Bell would look pretty darn cute together on a poster...
UPDATED: The Hollywood Reporter has once again confirmed one of my scoops: Cannavale will star in the Cupid pilot.
Kristen Bell might just be the coolest girl in the whole wide world. She uses words like "wowzers," "jammies," and "dreamy" and she loves to watch BBC series like The Office and Little Britain. In other words, she's a woman after my own heart.
I caught up with the former Veronica Mars star between breakfast with Ryan Hanson (that's Dick Casablancas for you Mars fans out there) and a wardrobe fitting for her new series, Heroes. Bell's premiere episode is Monday and she's currently signed on to do at least 13 episodes on the second season of NBC's superhero drama as the enigmatic Elle.
What can she tell us about Elle? Bell was cautious not to give away any major spoilers. "I can’t reveal her secret powers," she said. "You’ll have to watch next Monday. But it’s a very cool power. [Elle] has ties to HRG and to Claire. And there’s going to be a very interesting dynamic I think, between her and Claire as far as what is and what is not... But she also has ties to a little bit to Suresh. And she’s a little messed up in the head, which makes her really manipulative and always out to get what she wants. She doesn’t have many boundaries which I think is the really interesting part of playing this character on this particular show because the whole first season has been about these, you know, fairly good-natured people in trying to embrace these confusing abilities and being very [conflicted] as to how they should be using them. Elle is not that way at all. She very much enjoys her power and enjoys the emotional power it gives her over other people."
Hmm, Elle's ability gives her "emotional power" over other people? Very curious. (Mind control? Telepathy?)
As for those pesky rumors that she turned down a role on Season Four of Lost to take the part on Heroes, Bell set the record straight once and for all. "Well, I think that the facts of the situation are that the media might have gotten a little ahead of themselves because I had been spoken to about possibly doing a role on Lost, but I was never actually offered one," she said. "That certainly would have been, you know, a wonderful opportunity. But I think I have been such a fan of Heroes from the very beginning that this would have been the dreamiest situation I could have possibly thought up as my next job. So when Tim [Kring] came forward I sort of pounced on it."
For her part, Bell was a huge fan of Heroes from the start ("I joked with the writers that Heroes was the water cooler conversation that Veronica Mars on set.") and "certainly put feelers out there during Comic-Con" with the dream of one day appearing on the series. "It was ultimate flattery when they [came forward] and said we might have something for you to do," she added.
That something would be her first on-screen role since the demise of her own critically-acclaimed series Veronica Mars in May. (Bell lends her voice to the CW's freshman drama Gossip Girl, but don't expect to ever see her appear on-screen as the eponymous narrator, a job she relishes because she can show up to work in her "jammies.") As for whether the role has any longevity, she said that her role was open-ended and she herself wouldn't discount a long-term role on the series.
"I would be up for that," she said. "I think that this has been a great relationship so far. And there was no hesitancy with entering as far as becoming a main part of the show, just more like well from both ends it was like let’s feel each other out and see how you fit into the show and if you’re happy. [...] I am signed on for 13 which, you know, certainly to the discretion as how it fits into the major plot lines they could use me or I could just sit on the sidelines. But, quite frankly, I hope they use me because I’m really having a good time. And then at the end of the 13 we decided to have a pow-wow and sit down and see if it make sense for me to continue."
Personally, I wanted to get to know more about Bell herself and being a TV junkie, I thought that was the perfect tack to take.
Q: With the rise of shows like Chuck and a sudden emphasis on geek sub-culture, I’m wondering, as a female geek icon who is both beautiful and brainy, what your geeky guilty pleasures are?
Kristen Bell: Oh wow, my geeky, guilty pleasures? (I bet) my Comic-Con would be a geeky, guilty pleasure. I think the geekiest of all my pleasures at Comic-Con is I’d definitely try to go around and get pictures with every single person who dresses up. Because the people come in full costume. They just fascinate me, absolutely fascinate me.
And what’s even more fascinating is that if I were to come in costume like dressed as a Storm Trooper, I would kind of expect the fact that people are going to want pictures of me. And most of the time when I ask them for pictures they’re like so "oh, all right, just make it quick" like it’s like so frustrating for them. And it’s so fascinating to me because I’m like, well, you’re the one that came in costume so don’t get angry at me.
My geeky guilty pleasures, I don’t know. I mean certainly having done Fanboys [Bell's feature comes out in 2008], anything Star Wars is now sort of wonderful and fascinating to me and then the - and the fact that I’m sort of still learning. And all my friends are fanboys. So it’s not so much that I’m like typically going out on my own and - as much as I am learning from them and have just been so embraced by this community that I love it.
And now I’m sort of coming into my own as a fangirl and seeking things out like the New Beverly in Los Angeles had a double feature the other night of Tron and The Last Starfighter. So I was like I kind of need to see that at least just once in my life because that seemed like an awesome double feature, you know?
Q: Fantastic. What TV shows are you watching right now?
Bell: It’s on my Tivo. Pushing Daisies I love. I do of course support and watch our NBC line up of Chuck and Journeyman.
I’ve watched The Office since it started, which I love. And I love the BBC - I watch a lot of BBC shows, don’t watch all of that many American shows. I really like Little Britain. I’m excited that that’s coming out on HBO and even League of Gentlemen.
Although, I’m always kind of into reruns of America’s Funniest Home Videos. That’s sort of my number one. That’s my geekiest, guilty pleasure. I’ll tell you that right there.
Q: Wow, Kristen Bell watches America's Funniest Home Videos?
Bell: And I don’t feel guilty about it because it’s an awesome show.
Kristen Bell's first appearance on Heroes airs Monday night at 9 pm on NBC.
What's On Tonight
8 pm: Survivor: China (CBS); My Name is Earl/30 Rock (NBC); Smallville (CW); Ugly Betty (ABC); Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (FOX; 8-10 pm)
9 pm: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS); The Office (NBC); Supernatural (CW); Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
10 pm: Viva Laughlin (CBS); ER (NBC); Big Shots (ABC)
What I'll Be Watching
8 pm: Ugly Betty.
On tonight's episode ("Grin and Bear It"): Alexis returns to work at Mode but her behavior is more like Alex's than Alexis', Daniel receives an ultimatum from a major advertiser (guest star James Van Der Beek), Amanda hunts for the identity of her father, and Betty begins her creative writing class by stealing someone else's story.
8:30 pm: 30 Rock.
What's on my mind grapes? It's the second season of the Emmy Award winning comedy. On tonight's episode ("The Collection"), Jack enlists the help of a private investigator (guest star Steve Buscemi) to prevent GE from digging up dirt about him, Angie announces her intention to shadow Tracy every moment of the day, and a now-famous Jenna scarily realizes that she's starting to lose weight.
9 pm: The Office.
The disastrous one-hour installments of The Office wrap up tonight with the final extended episode ("Money"), in which Jan renovates Michael's condo, forcing him to ask his employees for a loan to cover the payments, while Pam and Jim spend the night at Dwight's farm, which has been converted into a B&B.
10-11 pm: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on FX.
FX's hilariously subversive comedy It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia continues tonight with two back-to-back episodes. On the first ("Mac Is a Serial Killer"), Frank, Dee, and Dennis believe that Mac is a serial killer on a murderous rampage through Philadelphia. On the second ("Dennis and Dee Go on Welfare"), Dennis and Dee decide to leave Paddy's and go on welfare, while Frank drives Mac and Charlie insane with his incessant meddling.
Sure, there are more than a few television mothers who are forces for good: paragons of maternal instincts, positive role-models whose children are well-behaved and look up to them or misunderstood martyrs who are just plain unappreciated.
But let's be honest: the TV mothers that are the most memorable tend to play their roles in a no-wire-hangers Joan Crawford kind of way. These moms, sometimes as eeevil as can be, are usually a hell of a lot more fun than their Pollyanna counterparts.
So who made my list of TV's most memorable meanie moms? Let's take a look.
Name: Julie Cooper (The O.C.)
Actress: Melinda Clarke
Likes: Power, money, powerful men with money, decorating large mansions, blackmail, her daughter's cast-off boyfriends, manipulating everyone around her, Newport Living.
Dislikes: Ryan Atwood, downsizing, no-fault divorces, getting jilted, being blackmailed, Chino.
Acts of Treachery and Wanton Evil: Sleeping with daughter Marisa's high school sweetheart Luke, nearly murdering husband Caleb, persisting in calling Kirsten "Kiki," divorcing Jimmy after discovering his financial problems, discarding husbands like used Kleenex, turning a blind eye to Marissa's blatant alcoholism, sending younger daughter Kaitlin away to school and then promptly forgetting all about her.
Joan Crawford-O-Meter: 8. This Real Housewife of Orange County is as nasty a mutha as they come.
Name: Lucille Bluth (Arrested Development)
Actress: Jessica Walters
Likes: Gin, keeping Buster under her thumb, adopting Korean children, abusing Lindsay, abusing Lupe, soup, yachts, the amorous attentions of her husband's twin brother Oscar, being zipped up.
Dislikes: Lucille Ostero, Klimpy's restaurants, her driver's license picture, au pairs, her children forgetting her birthday, pool food.
Acts of Treachery and Wanton Evil: Adopting Annyong to make Buster jealous, forcing that same son to take part each year in Motherboy competitions, attempting to run over someone she thought was eldest son GOB and then pinning the ensuing accident on Michael.
Joan Crawford-O-Meter: 7. Her mother's milk of kindness dried up long ago.
Name: Lois Henrickson (Big Love)
Actress: Grace Zabriskie
Likes: Being where the action is, fur coats, smirking, turning her sons against each other, turning her sons against her husband, turning her husband against her sons, the smell of laundered money.
Dislikes: Hubby Frank, being neglected by her family, sister wives, smiling, pumping gas.
Acts of Treachery and Wanton Evil: Committing daughter-in-law Wanda to the "booby trap," turning to granddaughter Sarah for help only to rat her out to her parents, attempting to coerce Wanda into shooting the district attorney, admitting on several occasions that she wishes she had strangled son Bill during infancy.
Joan Crawford-O-Meter: 8. Extra points for also playing hellishly scary mom to Laura Palmer on Twin Peaks.
Name: Lianne Mars (Veronica Mars)
Actress: Corinne Bohrer
Likes: Booze, booze, and more booze. Also: extramarital affairs, unicorn music boxes, grand theft, dive bars, sneaking vodka into water bottles, Jake Kane.
Dislikes: Celeste Kane, standing by her man, people taking surveillance shots of her daughter, rehab.
Acts of Treachery and Wanton Evil: Sleeping with both hubby Keith and high school sweetheart Jake Kane so that the parentage of baby Veronica was in question, running away without so much as a by-your-leave, using Veronica's college fund to enter rehab and then dropping out before completing treatment, running away with a $50,000 check intended for Veronica.
Joan Crawford-O-Meter: 7. A music box is no replacement for a mommy.
Name: Emily Gilmore (Gilmore Girls)
Actress: Kelly Bishop
Likes: Cocktail hour, Friday night dinners, her beloved DAR, pearls, guilt trips, trips to Europe, Chilton Academy, redecorating the pool house, anything and everything that granddaughter Rory does.
Dislikes: Unwed mothers, subpar servants, Pennilyn Lott, hospital pillows, the state of Lorelai's life, mushed banana on toast.
Acts of Treachery and Wanton Evil: Blackmailing daughter Lorelai into Friday night dinners in exchange for Rory's tuition, repeatedly springing blind dates on Lorelai, backpedaling on the issue of Rory dropping out of Yale, attempting to break up Lorelai and Luke and push Lorelai and Christopher together, firing every maid she's ever employed.
Joan Crawford-O-Meter: 4. Despite her overbearing ways, she really does want what's best for Lorelai and Rory.
Name: Atia of the Julii (Rome)
Actress: Polly Walker
Likes: Torturing her enemies, status, gossip, sex, self-preservation, manipulating others into doing her bidding, ritually bathing in the blood of animals.
Dislikes: Servilia, honesty, weakness, charity, the taste of ashes and iron, Marc Antony marrying her daughter, her children committing incest, not being the center of attention, that "pigspawn trollop" Cleopatra.
Acts of Treachery and Wanton Evil: Paying to have humiliating graffiti of Servilia and Caesar appear on streets around Rome, hiring Titus Pullo to take son Octavian to a brothel, ordering Timon to publicly strip and beat Servilia and later ordering her kidnapping and brutal torture.
Joan Crawford-O-Meter: 10. Not since Livia Soprano has there been a worse Roman matriarch; Atia virtually wrote an ancient text on bad parenting.
What other villainous matriarchs do you think should have made it on this list? Which one of these malevolent mothers is truly the wickedest of them all? You decide.
Could the teen private investigator be trading in her telephoto lens and snappy retorts for superpowers?
Just days after rumors that former Veronica Mars series lead Kristen Bell would join the cast of Lost (sadly, a deal was never reached), NBC dropped a major bombshell of a casting notice: Bell is a lock for a multiple episode storyline on the sophomore season of Heroes, beginning in October.
Say what?
Bell will play Elle, an enigmatic woman with connections to the alleged death of Peter, Horn Rimmed Glasses' past, and Claire's future. Elle will commit a serious crime during her initial appearance, though whether she's good or bad is still unclear.
On scoring the much-in demand Bell (who will lend her voice as the eponymous narrator in the CW's new drama Gossip Girl and will appear in Judd Apatow's Forgetting Sarah Marshall), Heroes creator Tim Kring said in a statement, "This was not easy to pull off. But since we're an ensemble show, with many arcs playing out through the year, we found a way to jump into a small window in her schedule. I pitched her the idea we have for the character, which she loved, and we're off and running."
That sound you're hearing? Millions of fanboys squealing in glee.
Confession time. While there is a whole plethora of new summer series to watch this season (including next week's launch of Damages on FX), the one show I keep finding myself watching is none other than Veronica Mars.
Yes, I've started over at the very beginning and have been steadily working my way back through Season One of Veronica Mars this summer, relishing in every single plot twist and turn as Veronica and Papa Keith investigate the murder of Lily Kane and, you know, solve a few dozen other mysteries along the way.
While I never forgot how much I loved the now-canceled Veronica Mars (which, sadly, had its final send-off on the CW last Tuesday), it's been brilliant fun going back and watching all of the set up for the eventual reveal of Lily's killer. And little things too: seeing Logan and our girl Veronica go from hostile animosity to full-blown lust over the course of 16 episodes or so. Remember when he vandalized her car in the pilot episode? And when they finally kissed on the stairs of that motel in "Weapons of Class Destruction"?
Or how could you forget the slow and gradual introduction of icon series character Dick Casablancas whose first line on the show was something along the lines of "Hey, look over there"? Or the awkward courtship between Papa Keith and Wallace's mom Alicia? Or, hell, the scene in which Aaron Echolls beats the snot out of daughter Trina's abusive boyfriend while "That's Amore" plays in the background? (Years later and that scene still resonates with me whenever I think of the series.)
For those of us still sore from the CW's very unsportsmanlike cancellation of Veronica Mars need only look back to that Season One boxset to see the series at its very, very best. Each episode offers a measured dose of noir intrigue, teen romance, and taut mystery thriller. And the beauty about returning to the series's start now is that you can savor several installments at a time while also paying close attention to every clue, red herring, and shifty character in Neptune, including a few you may have missed the first time around.
While my love for Veronica Mars has never dwindled over the years, there's a reason why the hunt for Lily Kane's killer is such a memorable season-long mystery arc. Not only did this mystery implicate nearly every single character in Neptune (except maybe Veronica, Papa Keith, and Vice Principal Clemmons) but it also gave Veronica a particularly vested interest in the crime and a clear throughline for the season: find her best friend's killer and do whatever it takes to bring this villain to justice, even if it meant breaking the law or putting herself in harm's way. The mysteries in subsequent seasons have been taut little gems themselves, but none of them approached the tension and scope of this first look into Neptune's seedy underbelly and a cast of suspects who were a sheer joy to watch from week to week.
I've only got a few episodes left to Season One and, despite knowing the outcome of this season's arc, my heart can't help but race with excitement and anticipation as we near the end of the season and unmask Lily's killer. So, my question to you, gentle readers, is this. Is it wrong, with so much on television this summer, that I'd be tempted back into those halycon early days of Veronica Mars? Or is watching this smartly crafted mystery series just the perfect antidote for the long, hot days of summer?
It's official. No matter how many marshmallows grieving Veronica Mars fans manage to send to the CW, the netlet is not reconsidering its decision to axe the noir drama.
Yes, ladies and gentleman and VM fans, the Blonde One has left the building. Veronica Mars is no more.
In a statement to TV Guide, Rob Thomas acknowledged the series' demise:
"I'm afraid I have to report that Veronica Mars is officially dead," Thomas told Michael Ausiello. "At least in TV show form. There's really no way that it can happen now. I'm not sure the CW should've given the glimmer of hope. I think Dawn Ostroff genuinely would have liked to have continued on with a version of the show, but there was too much resistance around her. At the end of the day, it would've been kinder had the band aid simply been ripped off rather peeled away in than this agonizingly slow manner."
While I do think that Thomas is being far too kind in believing that Ostroff wanted to keep Veronica Mars on the air, he is investigating other options for continuing the story of our favorite teenage private investigator.
Sure, there's the possibility of a Veronica Mars feature film (um, don't hold your breath for that one, folks), but more promising are the discussions that Thomas has had with comic publisher DC (home of the Justice League, Batman, and Vertigo), which seem interested in publishing Veronica Mars' Season Four as a comic series (much like Dark Horse has done with Buffy the Vampire Slayer's eighth season).
"I had a meeting with DC Comics last Monday," Thomas told the Toronto Star, "and they want to do (Season 4) as a comic series."
Fans of Veronica Mars creator Thomas need not wonder what his next project will be. Thomas has accepted a position as showrunner on ABC's midseason half-hour comedy Miss/Guided, starring Judy Greer, Brooke Burns, and Kristoffer Polaha. Having seen the (dreadful) pilot, I only hope that Thomas can work some of his leftover Veronica Mars mojo on the series...
Spurred by the recent success of the fan-based campaign to save cancelled CBS series Jericho, fans of the CW's axed Veronica Mars have organized their own attempt to resurrect their beloved heroine from cancellation.
Fans of the crime-fighting college student launched Save Veronica Mars: The Mars Bars (and Marshmallows) Campaign, which aims to get CW to reconsider its position on ending the noir mystery series by blanketing the CW offices wth as many Mars bars and marshmallows as humanly possible. Inspired, no doubt, by the success of the send-peanuts-to-CBS campaign, which was a factor in the network saving Jericho, after officially cancelling it.
The campaign is currently looking for donations in the form of purchased Mars bars. (As many people will tell you, US Mars bars are no longer being produced; therefore the only way of purchasing these delicious chocolate-based goodies are through online vendors.) The truckloads of bars will then be brought to CW President Dawn Ostroff's offices on or before June 15th.
Also being organized: an en masse purchase of the Veronica Mars 3rd season finale ("The Bitch Is Back") on iTunes for June 12th, to send a message to studio Warner Bros. Television that there is still a demand out there for the series.
Which leaves little time to organize such an enormous endeavor. So, I urge the remaining Veronica Mars fans out there to spread the word and donate to this cause. I'm not sure candy can directly affect the scheduling decisions of a network (a reduced license fee would more readily do the trick), but who knows what can happen...
I really can't believe it's over. While last night's episode of Veronica Mars was touted by the CW as a "season finale," it's clear that the series has come to the end of the road and I, for one, am completely gutted.
It's one thing when a show peters out over several seasons and by Season Seven or so you become indifferent to one of your favorite series, but Veronica Mars still had a hell of a lot of potential--despite the awkward, sometimes off-putting single episode mysteries--and managed to restart itself in the two-hour finale.
One of the funniest moments in last night's Veronica Mars finale ("Weevils Wobble But They Don't Fall Over"/"The Bitch is Back") was a hilariously tongue-firmly-in-cheek scathing indictment of CW-style product placement as the gang name drop Venus razors ("Veronica Mars uses a Venus razor?"), People magazine, Saturn hybrid cars, and Matchbox 20, allowing Piz to take a swipe at Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas, who just happens to share a name with the lead singer of the aforementioned band: "Rob Thomas is a whore." It's a fantastic meta moment which at once invalidates gratuitous product placement whilst probably serving to fulfill those very same product placement deals the CW forced upon the show all in the space of two scenes. I was a little skeptical when I saw Veronica shaving her legs in the sink of Mac's dorm room but those two scenes have quickly become series favorites as they skewer those awful, stilted Top Model Venus ads and similarly awkward product integration. It's the noir teen equivalent of the Snapple scene from 30 Rock.
All joking aside, I'm torn about whether last night's episode works as a series finale or just a season ender. On the one hand, there was no real resolution to any of the storylines (save the mystery of who filmed Veronica and Piz fooling around and posted it on the Internet) but on the other hand, writers Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero managed to reset the clock on Veronica Mars, returning us to several situations and storylines that defined the series in its freshman season: the feud between the Mars and Kane clans, Veronica being a social pariah, Keith losing the position of sheriff all over again thanks to Jake Kane (Kyle Secor, in a welcome return to the series), another idiot takes over as sheriff, etc. Hell, even Lily and Duncan Kane showed up, even if it was only as gigantic paintings in Jake Kane's palatial mansion.
There was definitely a cyclical feeling to the ending of "The Bitch is Back," as Keith sacrifices everything--the election campaign, his job, his sterling reputation--in order to save his beloved Veronica, though his intervention was ultimately unnecessary, which made his downfall all the more tragic. At the heart of this series has always been a compelling and extraordinary relationship between a father and daughter: because of her shame and embarrassment at the non-sex sex tape, Veronica is unable to tell Keith why she broke into Jake Kane's house and stole the hard drive; because of his love for his daughter, Keith does everything--including break the law--to save her. Has a television parent-child relationship ever been this rich and complex?
The ending, in which Veronica sees that Keith is being charged with tampering with evidence and then goes and votes for her dad in the voting booth (even though he's doomed to fail), was a beautiful crystallization about everything Veronica Mars has stood for: hope in the face of adversity, despite all proof that truth and justice don't necessarily exist in a noir-styled town as corrupt as Neptune. No matter how much good Keith and Veronica do in their roles as private investigators (or in Keith's case as sheriff), they'll never truly fit in in Neptune society; they're rebels, outcasts, forever removed from the '09-ers and tainted by the fact that they don't live in that posh zip code. If that's not the perfect ending to a series about class warfare, I don't know what is; it was poignant and full of promise for a fourth season at the same time. Pity then that we won't get to see (whether that's Veronica as an FBI agent or a college student) what would have come next.
It's clear that Logan is still deeply in love with Veronica. He savagely attacked poor Piz (wrongfully, I might add) and then, despite Veronica telling him that she wanted him out of her life forever, he still beat up that Castle member even after V. told Logan that he had serious mob connections. If that's not love, I don't know what is, though I do think Logan overstepped his bounds by upholding Veronica's honor; if that was anyone's right it was Piz's and, from the scathing gaze he offered Logan, it seemed like he was none too pleased by Logan's berserker rage. Poor Parker never even had a chance with Logan, did she? He didn't even blink when she split up with him. But I do have to admit that I liked Veronica and Piz together; they were really quite cute, especially in the scene where he told her how cute she was when she surveilled. (Aw.)
It was also gratifying to see the entire gang in on the action last night as Wallace and Mac (yay, Mac!) did what they do best and lent a hand to Veronica's investigation: Wallace went undercover at the Castle (but got caught in the process), Mac helped Veronica decrypt Jake Kane's hard drive and get the names (and confessions) of every single Castle member since 1939, Weevil bent the law to help V., and Logan provided some (misguided at times) muscle. It was just like old times again and made me more than a little nostalgic.
Best line of the night: "This new wetsuit is like a cheap hotel: no ballroom." I'm not sure what Dick hoped to gain by making amends for his past behavior towards everyone in his life (and his suddenly reemerging guilt over Cassidy's death), but he still managed to do so with his gutter humor intact. So maybe there is hope in Neptune even for the hopeless, after all.
We may not have gotten the resolution we wanted (no appearance by Big Dick Casablancas or Kendall) but we did get a plaintive ending to a series which has provided me no end of theorizing and ruminating. I do wish that Rob Thomas and Company would have had the chance to tell the story that they wanted and been able to end the series on their terms, rather than the network's. Despite its premature death at the hands of CW execs, Veronica Mars will forever remain in my memory as one of television's most multi-layered dramas, populated by complex characters in a noir-tinged underworld set against a fabulous, beach-scented backdrop. Neptune might not be an ideal place to live, but it's been the perfect weekly getaway over the last three seasons.
What's On Tonight
8 pm: NCIS (CBS); Saturday Night Live in the '90s: Pop Culture Nation (NBC; 8-10 pm); One Tree Hill (CW); Lost (ABC); American Idol (FOX; 8-10 pm)
9 pm: Criminal Minds (CBS); One Tree Hill (CW); Lost (ABC; 9-11 pm)
10 pm: CSI: New York (CBS); Dateline (NBC)
What I'll Be Watching
8 pm: Lost.
If you missed Thursday's Lost special ("The Answers"), here's your chance to kick back with Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse as they recap some of the plot twists and turns of this past season.
9-11 pm: Lost.
On the two-hour season finale of Lost ("Through the Looking Glass"), Jack and the castaways head to the radio tower, Charlie meets some new female friends in the Looking Glass, Desmond faces off against Patchy, and Ben enacts his plot to kidnap the female survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. I cannot wait!
Sigh. It seems like forever ago that I was excited to watch last night's episode of Veronica Mars, but after learning that my beloved Mars wouldn't be returning next season (thanks again, CW!), I couldn't help but watch the episode feeling more than a little blue.
If next week is to be the end of the smart, stylish series, I do wish that Rob Thomas and Co. had been given the opportunity to go out on their own terms and to potentially wrap up the series in the way that makes sense, both for the story and its characters and the viewers of the series. But in the end, in a twist most at home in its noir setting, Veronica Mars was betrayed by a supposed ally: the CW network. Since the move to the CW at the beginning of the season, the WBTV series has been battered around more than that damn Maltese Falcon. It launched on Tuesday nights for one story arc, then it was pulled for several months, only to return for a handful of episodes (in which V. solved the murder of Dean O'Dell), and then get unceremoniously yanked for a new low in reality television: the literally vomitous Pussycat Dolls: The Search for the Next Doll. When it emerged for a final time, the show's very conceit had changed. Gone were the intricate mysteries of Seasons One and Two; in its place were standalone mysteries, tied together by ongoing shifts in the characters' interpersonal dynamics.
I'm not saying that the standalones were bad. (Because they're not.) But I do miss those immersive, Byzantine mysteries that led to so many theories and discussions. I come back each week for Veronica and her friends but it was the intricacy of the plots that kept me thinking about the series for days after the broadcast.
Which is why I'm glad that last night's episode of Veronica Mars ("I Know What You'll Do Next Summer") was so emotionally satisfying. I won't go into the details of the week's standalone mystery involving a former Ugandan child soldier (though it did make for a Very Special Episode), but I will say that even if next week's Veronica Mars is the series' last, we at least appear to be getting some closure on a few dangling storylines, what with the appearance of Big Dick Casablancas and Liam Fitzpatrick, still wondering just what ever happened to Kendall. Hmmm, I wonder if we'll find out if those two storylines are intertwined next week.
95. It's about time that Veronica applied for a private investigator license of her own and I loved the scene in which she tried to taunt Papa Keith with her 95 score, only to learn that she didn't beat his results, after all. And, Keith, planting that 97 score in the drawer of your desk, just knowing Veronica would call and taunt you whilst sitting at your old desk? Classic.
I'm just happy though that Rob Thomas decided to make Veronica legit in the end and have her stand on her own two feet a little more by making her a proper PI... and taking that internship with the FBI at Quantico. While it could have set up a potential Season Four with a new direction (I'm desperate to get my hands on that 10-minute FBI presentation to the CW), it does provide some direction for the future of the characters (even if its just in our heads) after the cameras have stopped rolling. Sigh.
Vinnie Van Lowe. Was it just me or was Vinnie's cheesy campaign video absolutely hysterical? I'm so happy that Ken Marino has been sticking around the show these past few weeks as (A) he's so damn funny and (B) it's nice for Keith to have a foil, especially since the death of poor Don Lamb. Loved Veronica's question about whether Vinnie had kids whilst watching.
Summer. Poor Piz. I just knew that he was destined for heartbreak and I was hoping he'd just step up and tell Veronica how he felt rather than playing games with her. Our girl V. is obviously not in tune with his feelings and trying to get her to admit that she'll miss him if he went to New York, or encourage him to stay in Neptune, is probably not the right move at this juncture. Still, it's rather telling that Veronica urged Piz to do what would be best for his long-term happiness (in terms of career, anyway) and that Pitchfork would be lucky to have him. But his face couldn't conceal the shock he felt when Veronica hold him that she was going to Quantico. Ouch.
I'm glad Wallace signed up to volunteer for real-life group Invisible Children and spend the summer in Africa. It's been a long time since Mr. Fennel had any meaningful character growth, so I think it's fitting that he should show some real maturity.
Logan and Parker, meanwhile, seem destined for the trash heap after Parker learned that Logan would be spending the summer on a surf trip with Dick to South America. But after Veronica inadvertently gets involved with the couple's drama, Logan invites Parker to join them... only to have the whole thing blow up in his face when Dick backs out. Oh, Logan, it's clear you're not even a little bit in love with Parker and, after meeting her creepy white flour-hating parents, you should just RUN.
Mac and Max. I'm glad that Max might not be the perfect boyfriend for Mac. Sure, she's existing on a heady diet of sex binges and mediocre pizza, but I was blown away by Max's real nature: that he's counting down the days to his expulsion, hasn't been to class since February, and just plans on continuing his business of selling tests from an off-campus apartment next year. But Mac can't help but be smitten with Max, especially after the crunchy granola goodness of Bronson. I'm just hoping Max doesn't take Mac down with him in the end. Mac deserves better.
Burning questions: where was Deputy Leo this week? And what in the name of all things holy was that god-awful CWhat's Hot wrap they kept showing? Absolutely terrifying that this is the direction the CW is going in.
Dangling mysteries. I was blown away when Big Dick Casablancas showed up at the Neptune Grand, though I am a little confused by what he meant when he said he was paying for Dick's hotel room. (I always thought Logan was paying for it.) It's about time that Dick Senior showed up, after running out on Kendall and the boys at the beginning of Season Two and only fitting that he should make his reappearance at the very scene of son Cassidy's death. But just what does he want? Sure, he claims that he wanted to spend some time with Dick before he's incarcerated for his crimes, but he doesn't really seem to be the turn yourself in and go to jail for a year type. Could there be something else going on here? Maybe related to the mysterious death of Kendall Casablancas? Me, I'm hoping that Kendall is secretly still alive and she and Dick have planned this from the start. Fingers crossed.
Next week on what appears to be the two-hour series finale (sniffle, sniffle) of Veronica Mars ("Weevils Wobble But They Don't Fall Down"), Veronica must clear Weevil's name when he's arrested for selling fake credit cards but he claims that he's being framed, Keith and Vinnie debate, Dick apologizes to Mac, and a sex tape of Veronica and Piz makes its way onto the internet. Man, I'm going to miss this series.
What's On Tonight
8 pm: The Price is Right Million Dollar Spectacular (CBS); Thank God You're Here (NBC); America's Next Top Model (CW); According to Jim/Notes from the Underbelly (ABC); Bones (FOX)
9 pm: Criminal Minds (CBS); Crossing Jordan (ABC); One Tree Hill (CW); According to Jim/Notes from the Underbelly (ABC); American Idol (FOX)
10 pm: CSI: New York (CBS); Medium (NBC); Lost (ABC)
What I'll Be Watching
8 pm: America's Next Top Model.
On tonight's season finale ("The Girl Who Becomes America's Next Top Model"), the final three have to bring it when they have to perform in a commercial and print ad shoot for Cover Girl, leading one to struggle to look youthful (Renee?) while another needs constant coaching from Jay to say her lines naturally (Nata?). Please, for the love of all things holy, have Renee win this.
10 pm: Lost.
Tonight cannot come fast enough for me. On tonight's episode ("Greatest Hits"), Jack comes up with a plan involving loads of dynamite to rid them of the Others forever, Desmond tells Charlie that he needs to die this time, while Sayid discovers a flaw within the Other's group.
The CW has just become public enemy number one in the Televisionary household.
Yes, gentle readers, the netlet has done the unthinkable and cancelled my beloved Veronica Mars.
After two days of holding my breath while the networks unveiled their fall schedules, I kept hoping that somehow, some way, the CW would realize it didn't want to get rid of the only series with any critical traction left on their network and find a way (reduced episode count? flash forward in time?) to keep Veronica Mars on the air.
Alas, it's official. Next week's episode of Veronica Mars will be the series' last. And I for one am not ready to say goodbye to Neptune just yet.
UPDATE: TV Guide's Michael Ausiello claims the CW may wait until June 15th to decide the final fate of Veronica Mars:
"Contractually, the net has until June 15 to reach a verdict, and the extra time would allow Rob Thomas to produce an actual script for Veronica in the FBI. hat's one scenario. The other scenario is that the show is dead. I think we can all agree that Scenario 1 is preferable. One thing is certain: VM will not be on the schedule that Dawn Ostroff presents to advertisers on Thursday morning."
Me, I'm not holding my breath. Given the CW's mistreatment of the series this season, I don't think any eleventh hour white knight is coming in the form of Dawn Ostroff.
UPDATE #2: And.... then it was dead. Gee, didn't see that one coming. Good thing I didn't get my hopes up or anything. Sometimes it pays to be a jaded TV junior exec/blogger. You can catch Kristen Bell's dulcimer tones as the eponymous narrator in new fall drama Gossip Girl but don't expect to see her on the CW next season.
I'm still shocked by last night's Lost but wanted to offer just a few quick thoughts about Veronica Mars. Yes, I succumbed to the temptation of watching this week's episode online at CWTV.com rather than waiting for the rescheduled telecast on KTLA on Saturday (don't worry, I plan to watch again, to keep up those all-important ratings numbers); I couldn't help myself.
Still, this week's episode of Veronica Mars ("Debasement Tapes") was all about the guest star: Paul Rudd, who should by law be required to guest star on every television series I watch. Or to have a series of his own. Or, you know, release an album.
The star of Clueless, Wet Hot American Summer, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin did not disappoint in his star turn this week as has-been rocker Desmond Fellows, whose band My Pretty Pony seemed an amorphous mix of 90s grunge bands like Nirvana and Mother Love Bone (who later became, yes, Pearl Jam). Rudd was fantastic as Fellows, turning him into a sympathetic (if slightly pathetic) guy who is too afraid to stop using the backup vocals of his dead band mate and launch his own career on his own terms. This is a guy who uses pills to cope with life, who blows off Piz's offer of help to attend a lame college dorm room party, who tries skinny dipping in water far too cold for that purpose.
So, did Desmond intentionally take the wrong bag from the airport? I'm leaning towards yes, but I am not entirely sure. Either way, he did not want to have to perform on the Hearst College radio station and used the backup tapes' disappearance as a way to stall. Glad that Piz engineered a way to force Desmond to try out his own new songs from his nascent solo career rather than remain stuck in the past. Piz, you can be a bad guy, after all. Well, not really...
Piz. Oh, Veronica, what in the hell are you doing? You are going to give this guy a complex as you keep changing your mind about how you feel about him. He might be the eggplant parm rather than the naughty pasta, but you can't just toy with his emotions. It's clear he's totally into you but you're blowing hot and cold with your mixed signals. Still, holding his hand during Desmond's set? May have been a line you didn't want to cross. Piz is not going to get over Veronica easily, especially as it's clear a reconciliation with Logan is in the cards.
Logan. Speaking of Veronica's ex, how bad did you feel that his professor completely shut him down during his presentation? Sure, the website probably wasn't the most academic endeavor to use to promote a business plan, but he and Mac worked their, well, asses off to get that business off the ground. Can this guy ever catch a break? I loved the scenes with Logan and Mac; they are rarely ever in scenes together but when they are, it just crackles with diametrically opposed energy. Logan's clearly still into Veronica (despite his relationship with Parker), as evidenced from the grilling he was giving Mac about her relationship with Piz and if she cheated on him while they were together. A little late for that, now isn't it?
Dick. Four words: ghost riding the whip. Thank you, writer John Enbom, for giving us the sight of Dick attempting to ghost ride his car (and getting his foot run over in the process). Loved how Dick questioned Desmond about whether he slept with Drew Barrymore, Rose McGowan, and Jennifer Love Hewitt. (Yes, yes, and twice.)
Mac. I am so glad that the Hearst College campus is finally realizing what a hottie our girl Mac is. While it was wonderful to see her finally relaxed and carefree with boyfriend Bronson (and finally get over the events of last year with Beaver), I don't think that they were truly meant for one another, what with the hikes and the PETA petitions and everything. I thought that Mac and Max were absolutely adorable together and perfectly suited for one another. Their scenes sparkled with shiny, shiny geek love and I really hope that Rob Thomas and Co. manage to get them together in the next three episodes. Bronson was crushed by Mac's breakup speech but she was honest about her feelings and, well, deserves someone who gets the stylishly nerdy computer-obsessed side of her.
Wallace finally has a scene with Veronica that seems a throwback to the earlier seasons in which they were, you know, best friends. I thought their girl talk scene was absolutely hilarious and spot on, especially with Veronica pointing out, after Wallace took umbrage at their conversation topic, that he was drinking a Fresca and watching a Joan Crawford movie. (Ditto for when Desmond refers to Veronica as a "feisty, young Barbara Eden.") It's moments like these that remind me why I love this series.
Meanwhile, Keith is pleased as punch that he's running unopposed in the special election for Neptune's sheriff, that is, until Vinnie tricks him into accidentally endorsing him as a candidate, following a botched robbery at the sporting goods store that Vinnie helps prevent (with the use of a glued on mustache and some padlocks). Vinnie phones the station before Keith (who's on a stakeout with security guard Leo) does and takes the credit for thwarting the burglary, which Keith is happy to give him, along with a glowing statement in the local paper. Vinnie then uses that quote as part of his campaign push for his own candidacy. Grrr.
While I am thrilled to see Deputy Leo (Max Greenfield, now appearing on Ugly Betty) return to Neptune (and Veronica's life), I'm definitely intrigued as to why the producers are throwing him back into the mix at this late point in the season. Will there be a little shakeup in the Veronica-Piz-Logan love triangle? Or is there something else going on here?
Next week on Veronica Mars ("I Know What You'll Do Next Summer"), Veronica passes her private investigator exam, but when Piz interviews a student who authored a book about his past as a child-soldier, Veronica is hired by a man who wants to prove he is the student's father. Oh, and Parker turns to Veronica for advice about Logan. Hmmm, not sure that's going to go over too well.
Those of us in LA fortunate enough to be far away from that awful Griffith Park raging fire tuned in to the CW last night hoping to get our minds off the fire by catching up with our favorite blonde sleuth. We were in for a bit of a nasty shock as the CW pre-empted the telecast in favor of the local news.
The episode of Veronica Mars ("Debasement Tapes") is up on the CW's website for those of you who can't wait for the televised version, but regardless, be sure to tune in to the rescheduled airing as we need to keep those viewing numbers up. (UPDATE: KTLA will show the episode in its entirety this Saturday at 9 pm.)
Meanwhile, the Hollywood Reporter is indicating that Veronica Mars is inching ever closer to a fourth season renewal, following a "warm reception" at the network towards the trailer focusing on Veronica as a Clarice Starling-style FBI agent in training. As previously report