NEWS - Emmy per Emmy! Per premiare Rossum e compagnia "Shameless" con una statuetta (meritatissima!), gli Emmy Awards s'inventano di spostare la serie dalla categoria "drama" a quella "comedy" (ma se fa più piangere che ridere!)

Post di Alan Sepiwall per "Hitfix"

For the last four years, "Shameless" star Emmy Rossum has been giving one of the best performances in all of television, and yet despite the quality of that work — and the name that would be a headline writer's best friend — neither she nor the show she's on has gotten more than a whiff of Emmy recognition. Joan Cusack has been nominated three years in a row for guest actress in a drama, and that's it. Nothing for Rossum. Nothing for William H. Macy, who in his non-Frank Gallagher life has won two Emmys and been nominated for seven more. None for Jeremy Allen White or Emma Kenney or any of the other superb young actors the show has discovered, none for the other guest stars or the writing or directing.

The fact that Cusack keeps appearing in the guest category shows you how easy it can be to game the TV Academy's system — and now "Shameless" producer John Wells is trying to make like a Gallagher himself and try to game the system on a bigger scale. Having submitted the show in the Emmy drama categories the previous three years, Wells and Showtime today announced that "Shameless" will compete as a comedy at the 2014 Emmys.

Now, on the one hand I cannot blame Wells for trying this. I don't know that the genre has been the issue for "Shameless." Emmy voters have often seemed allergic to shows about extremely poor people, especially when they're not the type who suffer poverty with quiet dignity, but with the kind of brazen, hustling vulgarity with which the Gallaghers go through life. But odds are that Rossum was never going to break through in the drama actress category, not after a year when there were actually seven nominees and still no room at the inn for her, or for Tatiana Maslany, or several others. At a minimum, the comedy actress category will have a few openings, since Laura Dern and Tina Fey aren't eligible again, and Macy should have a much easier time than trying to crack a drama field that includes Cranston, Hamm, Spacey, and possibly McConaughey.

On the other hand, this move is, well, shameless. Absurd might be an even better word for it.

Yes, "Shameless" is a show that blends comedy and drama, and this year has had room for the usual black humor, like Carl Gallagher aggressively seeking detention to spend more time with a troublemaking girl he has a crush on, or Kev discovering what a money pit the bar he inherited really is. I even had arguments with Showtime executives in the first season that "Shameless" belonged more in the comedy categories, and not just because it was an easier path to nominations.

Not this year, though. This has been the darkest, most serious season to date, and especially for Rossum's Fiona. Never the show's funniest character to begin with, Fiona's been in a deep, bad spiral all season that included cheating on her boyfriend, getting high and letting her toddler brother Liam ingest cocaine (nearly dying and possibly suffering brain damage as a result), becoming a convicted felon on probation, and in the most recent episode, hitting rock bottom when being abandoned by fellow junkies at a gas station in Sheboygan.

It's been an impressive arc, and Rossum has again been amazing. I would gladly see her nominated for any and all awards for what she's doing this year, and what she's done throughout the show. And it is insane that she would be competing against performances by Amy Poehler and Melissa McCarthy. It's weird enough when Edie Falco is up for these things (and won one for the first year of "Nurse Jackie"), but that's at least a more overtly comic show and performance, and there's always the half-hour defense.

The rules are the rules, and if Wells can work within them and convince the Academy to allow "Shameless" to hop categories, then I suppose more power to him. It's a great show that deserves more recognition than it's gotten. But I don't know if it'll get substantially more this way, and it'll feel very strange if it does, all things considered.

That said, new episode Sunday at 9! I expect Fiona to suffer some more!

The fact that Cusack keeps appearing in the guest category shows you how easy it can be to game the TV Academy's system — and now "Shameless" producer John Wells is trying to make like a Gallagher himself and try to game the system on a bigger scale. Having submitted the show in the Emmy drama categories the previous three years, Wells and Showtime today announced that "Shameless" will compete as a comedy at the 2014 Emmys.

Now, on the one hand I cannot blame Wells for trying this. I don't know that the genre has been the issue for "Shameless." Emmy voters have often seemed allergic to shows about extremely poor people, especially when they're not the type who suffer poverty with quiet dignity, but with the kind of brazen, hustling vulgarity with which the Gallaghers go through life. But odds are that Rossum was never going to break through in the drama actress category, not after a year when there were actually seven nominees and still no room at the inn for her, or for Tatiana Maslany, or several others. At a minimum, the comedy actress category will have a few openings, since Laura Dern and Tina Fey aren't eligible again, and Macy should have a much easier time than trying to crack a drama field that includes Cranston, Hamm, Spacey, and possibly McConaughey.

On the other hand, this move is, well, shameless. Absurd might be an even better word for it.

Yes, "Shameless" is a show that blends comedy and drama, and this year has had room for the usual black humor, like Carl Gallagher aggressively seeking detention to spend more time with a troublemaking girl he has a crush on, or Kev discovering what a money pit the bar he inherited really is. I even had arguments with Showtime executives in the first season that "Shameless" belonged more in the comedy categories, and not just because it was an easier path to nominations.

Not this year, though. This has been the darkest, most serious season to date, and especially for Rossum's Fiona. Never the show's funniest character to begin with, Fiona's been in a deep, bad spiral all season that included cheating on her boyfriend, getting high and letting her toddler brother Liam ingest cocaine (nearly dying and possibly suffering brain damage as a result), becoming a convicted felon on probation, and in the most recent episode, hitting rock bottom when being abandoned by fellow junkies at a gas station in Sheboygan.

It's been an impressive arc, and Rossum has again been amazing. I would gladly see her nominated for any and all awards for what she's doing this year, and what she's done throughout the show. And it is insane that she would be competing against performances by Amy Poehler and Melissa McCarthy. It's weird enough when Edie Falco is up for these things (and won one for the first year of "Nurse Jackie"), but that's at least a more overtly comic show and performance, and there's always the half-hour defense.

The rules are the rules, and if Wells can work within them and convince the Academy to allow "Shameless" to hop categories, then I suppose more power to him. It's a great show that deserves more recognition than it's gotten. But I don't know if it'll get substantially more this way, and it'll feel very strange if it does, all things considered.

That said, new episode Sunday at 9! I expect Fiona to suffer some more!

What does everybody else think? Is the move to comedy fair or foul?
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/shameless-to-hop-emmy-categories-from-drama-to-comedy#Ru6WvlY2ZhQq5Yym.99

For the last four years, "Shameless" star Emmy Rossum has been giving one of the best performances in all of television, and yet despite the quality of that work — and the name that would be a headline writer's best friend — neither she nor the show she's on has gotten more than a whiff of Emmy recognition. Joan Cusack has been nominated three years in a row for guest actress in a drama, and that's it. Nothing for Rossum. Nothing for William H. Macy, who in his non-Frank Gallagher life has won two Emmys and been nominated for seven more. None for Jeremy Allen White or Emma Kenney or any of the other superb young actors the show has discovered, none for the other guest stars or the writing or directing.

The fact that Cusack keeps appearing in the guest category shows you how easy it can be to game the TV Academy's system — and now "Shameless" producer John Wells is trying to make like a Gallagher himself and try to game the system on a bigger scale. Having submitted the show in the Emmy drama categories the previous three years, Wells and Showtime today announced that "Shameless" will compete as a comedy at the 2014 Emmys.

Now, on the one hand I cannot blame Wells for trying this. I don't know that the genre has been the issue for "Shameless." Emmy voters have often seemed allergic to shows about extremely poor people, especially when they're not the type who suffer poverty with quiet dignity, but with the kind of brazen, hustling vulgarity with which the Gallaghers go through life. But odds are that Rossum was never going to break through in the drama actress category, not after a year when there were actually seven nominees and still no room at the inn for her, or for Tatiana Maslany, or several others. At a minimum, the comedy actress category will have a few openings, since Laura Dern and Tina Fey aren't eligible again, and Macy should have a much easier time than trying to crack a drama field that includes Cranston, Hamm, Spacey, and possibly McConaughey.

On the other hand, this move is, well, shameless. Absurd might be an even better word for it.

Yes, "Shameless" is a show that blends comedy and drama, and this year has had room for the usual black humor, like Carl Gallagher aggressively seeking detention to spend more time with a troublemaking girl he has a crush on, or Kev discovering what a money pit the bar he inherited really is. I even had arguments with Showtime executives in the first season that "Shameless" belonged more in the comedy categories, and not just because it was an easier path to nominations.

Not this year, though. This has been the darkest, most serious season to date, and especially for Rossum's Fiona. Never the show's funniest character to begin with, Fiona's been in a deep, bad spiral all season that included cheating on her boyfriend, getting high and letting her toddler brother Liam ingest cocaine (nearly dying and possibly suffering brain damage as a result), becoming a convicted felon on probation, and in the most recent episode, hitting rock bottom when being abandoned by fellow junkies at a gas station in Sheboygan.

It's been an impressive arc, and Rossum has again been amazing. I would gladly see her nominated for any and all awards for what she's doing this year, and what she's done throughout the show. And it is insane that she would be competing against performances by Amy Poehler and Melissa McCarthy. It's weird enough when Edie Falco is up for these things (and won one for the first year of "Nurse Jackie"), but that's at least a more overtly comic show and performance, and there's always the half-hour defense.

The rules are the rules, and if Wells can work within them and convince the Academy to allow "Shameless" to hop categories, then I suppose more power to him. It's a great show that deserves more recognition than it's gotten. But I don't know if it'll get substantially more this way, and it'll feel very strange if it does, all things considered.

That said, new episode Sunday at 9! I expect Fiona to suffer some more!

What does everybody else think? Is the move to comedy fair or foul?
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/shameless-to-hop-emmy-categories-from-drama-to-comedy#Ru6WvlY2ZhQq5Yym.99

For the last four years, "Shameless" star Emmy Rossum has been giving one of the best performances in all of television, and yet despite the quality of that work — and the name that would be a headline writer's best friend — neither she nor the show she's on has gotten more than a whiff of Emmy recognition. Joan Cusack has been nominated three years in a row for guest actress in a drama, and that's it. Nothing for Rossum. Nothing for William H. Macy, who in his non-Frank Gallagher life has won two Emmys and been nominated for seven more. None for Jeremy Allen White or Emma Kenney or any of the other superb young actors the show has discovered, none for the other guest stars or the writing or directing.

The fact that Cusack keeps appearing in the guest category shows you how easy it can be to game the TV Academy's system — and now "Shameless" producer John Wells is trying to make like a Gallagher himself and try to game the system on a bigger scale. Having submitted the show in the Emmy drama categories the previous three years, Wells and Showtime today announced that "Shameless" will compete as a comedy at the 2014 Emmys.

Now, on the one hand I cannot blame Wells for trying this. I don't know that the genre has been the issue for "Shameless." Emmy voters have often seemed allergic to shows about extremely poor people, especially when they're not the type who suffer poverty with quiet dignity, but with the kind of brazen, hustling vulgarity with which the Gallaghers go through life. But odds are that Rossum was never going to break through in the drama actress category, not after a year when there were actually seven nominees and still no room at the inn for her, or for Tatiana Maslany, or several others. At a minimum, the comedy actress category will have a few openings, since Laura Dern and Tina Fey aren't eligible again, and Macy should have a much easier time than trying to crack a drama field that includes Cranston, Hamm, Spacey, and possibly McConaughey.

On the other hand, this move is, well, shameless. Absurd might be an even better word for it.

Yes, "Shameless" is a show that blends comedy and drama, and this year has had room for the usual black humor, like Carl Gallagher aggressively seeking detention to spend more time with a troublemaking girl he has a crush on, or Kev discovering what a money pit the bar he inherited really is. I even had arguments with Showtime executives in the first season that "Shameless" belonged more in the comedy categories, and not just because it was an easier path to nominations. Not this year, though. This has been the darkest, most serious season to date, and especially for Rossum's Fiona. Never the show's funniest character to begin with, Fiona's been in a deep, bad spiral all season that included cheating on her boyfriend, getting high and letting her toddler brother Liam ingest cocaine (nearly dying and possibly suffering brain damage as a result), becoming a convicted felon on probation, and in the most recent episode, hitting rock bottom when being abandoned by fellow junkies at a gas station in Sheboygan.

It's been an impressive arc, and Rossum has again been amazing. I would gladly see her nominated for any and all awards for what she's doing this year, and what she's done throughout the show. And it is insane that she would be competing against performances by Amy Poehler and Melissa McCarthy. It's weird enough when Edie Falco is up for these things (and won one for the first year of "Nurse Jackie"), but that's at least a more overtly comic show and performance, and there's always the half-hour defense.

The rules are the rules, and if Wells can work within them and convince the Academy to allow "Shameless" to hop categories, then I suppose more power to him. It's a great show that deserves more recognition than it's gotten. But I don't know if it'll get substantially more this way, and it'll feel very strange if it does, all things considered.

That said, new episode Sunday at 9! I expect Fiona to suffer some more!

What does everybody else think? Is the move to comedy fair or foul?
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/shameless-to-hop-emmy-categories-from-drama-to-comedy#Ru6WvlY2ZhQq5Yym.99

L'EDICOLA DI LOU - Stralci e commenti sui telefilm dai media italiani e stranieri

CORRIERE DELLA SERA

"Shameless" emoziona e diverte (ancora)

"È iniziata su Mya la seconda stagione di «Shameless», la serie prodotta da John Welles, pluripremiato autore che ha firmato telefilm come «E.R.» e le ultime stagioni di «West Wing» (Mediaset Premium, venerdì, ore 21.15). Il telefilm è il remake di una bellissima serie inglese, espressione di quella «nouvelle vague» della fiction televisiva d'oltremanica che negli ultimi anni ha sfornato prodotti interessanti come «Misfits», il nuovo «Sherlock Holmes», e «Luther». Welles ha sfruttato una base di partenza ottima e ne ha fatto uno dei telefilm più interessanti della produzione recente del canale via cavo Showtime (per intenderci, quello di «Weeds» e «Dexter»). La storia è quella di una famiglia particolare, dove le regole funzionano alla rovescia: il padre, Frank Gallagher (un William E. Macy nella sua migliore interpretazione di sempre), è un alcolizzato totalmente irresponsabile ma altamente e orgogliosamente prolifico. I suoi sei figli sono così costretti a prendersi cura uno dell'altro, guidati da Fiona, la sorella maggiore sempre divisa tra desiderio legittimo di godersi la sua giovane età e la responsabilità di gestire l' intera baracca. Il tutto sullo sfondo della poverissima periferia di Chicago, dove i Gallagher fanno parte di quella categoria sociologica tutta nordamericana del «white trash», spazzatura bianca, costretta a tirare avanti tra lavoretti, coupon ed espedienti. In «Shameless» gli ingredienti tradizionali del family drama ci sono tutti, dall'amore fraterno all'attaccamento alle proprie radici, ma sono mescolati a una buona dose di cinismo, linguaggio «estremo» e comicità politicamente scorretta. La prima stagione aveva sorpreso per l' alta qualità della scrittura capace di approfondire le psicologie dei personaggi attraverso trame sempre avvincenti e credibili, questa seconda sembra per ora avvitarsi un po' su se stessa, ma rimane un'ottima fonte di divertimento ed emozione".

(Aldo Grasso, 22.07.2012)

TELEFILM FESTIVAL 2011 - Tamarrissimi storicissimi! Votate al Sondaggione di Tv Blog per eleggere il più grande Tamarro dei telefilm e dello spettacolo...E martedì tutti al TF in una giornata a tema (portatevi i jeans stracciati alla Lorenzo Lamas...)
Sopra le righe, sempre, fino all’eccesso. La parola Tamarro ha da sempre una connotazione negativa. Eppure il tamarro attira, rapisce, incolla milioni di telespettatori agli schermi (grandi e piccoli). Telefilm Festival 2011 celebra il fenomeno con una giornata dedicata al tema con speciali proiezioni e una tavola rotonda ricca di ospiti e di sorprese.
“Tamarri si nasce o si diventa?”: è il dilemma a base dell'incontro, martedì 28 giugno, in occasione della presentazione del cast della nuovissima docufiction "Tamarreide" in onda dal 13 giugno su Italia 1 in prima serata, accompagnato da esperti di tendenze, di spettacolo e di look per compiere un viaggio tra i tamarri non solo televisivi. A corollario dell'appuntamento, il Telefilm Festival propone l'anteprima di Shameless (su Mya dal 10 ottobre), lodata da "Hollywood Reporter" come "esempio eccellente di tv da vedere" e che vanta la famiglia americana più squinternata degli ultimi tempi, tra problemi di alcolismo, turbe sessuali e debiti mai pagati. Tra gli interpreti da plauso, William H. Macy; produce il tutto John Wells, già dietro le quinte del successo di "ER". Chicca della serata anche la puntata imperdibile del serial anni '80 21 Jump Street - di cui l'anno prossimo ricorrono i 25 anni con tanto di pellicola-remake al cinema - che vede protagonisti due tamarri d'antan come Johnny Dep e Brad Pitt. Nel frattempo buttatevi a capofitto a votare il Sondaggione di Tv Blog per eleggere il più grande Tamarro (il Tamarrone!) dei telefilm e dello spettacolo: merita di più Lorenzo Lamas di "Renegade" o Will Smith di "Willy, il Principe di Bel Air"? Fabrizio Corona o Lady Gaga? Votate col guantino dalle dita mozzate, mi raccomando!

Qui il sondaggio: http://www.tvblog.it/post/25961/tamarreide-sondaggio-tvblog-telefilm-festival-2011#continua

NEWS - ER finale spoilerissimo! Le ultime puntate del mediCult al prox Telefilm Festival (7-10 maggio)
(ANSA) - LOS ANGELES, 3 APR - ''Quindi finisce cosi'?'': la domanda che il marito di una paziente, interpretato da Ernest Borgnine, fa al dottor Tony Gates (John Stamos), non si riferisce solo alla morte della moglie. Dopo quindici anni, il network Nbc ha mandato in onda ieri sera la 331/a puntata di "Er-Medici in prima linea", l'ultima della serie inventata da Michael Crichton. L'autore di Jurassic Park non e' vissuto fino a vedere le due ore, precedute da uno speciale, che hanno chiuso lo show che, nel 1994, ha rivoluzionato i telefilm del settore, portando davvero i casi del pronto soccorso sul piccolo schermo e facendo scorrere l'adrenalina anche nei telespettatori. La novita' e' stata premiata: nei suoi picchi, il telefilm ha avuto una media di 32 milioni di spettatori, un record, ed e' stato nominato a 122 Emmy, i premi per gli attori e gli show televisivi vincendone 22, tra cui quello per miglior show drammatico nel 1996, e ha ottenuto quattro Screen Actors Guild Awards, premi degli attori, come miglior cast. Lo stesso network ha guadagnato fino a mezzo milione di dollari per uno spot di 30 secondi, nei momenti in cui il telefilm e' stato piu' visto. Er e' stato anche il trampolino di lancio per George Clooney, che ha iniziato la sua carriera nei panni del pediatra Doug Ross. Nei corridoi del pronto soccorso di Chicago sono passati molti altri attori, come Noah Wyle, Anthony Edwards, Eriq LaSalle e Julianna Margulies, che sono apparsi con un cameo nella stagione finale. Perfino Clooney e' ornato in una puntata in onda tre settimane fa per chiudere lo show. Julianna Margulies, sua moglie nella finzione, ha raccontato in un'intervista i due giorni in cui ha girato con Clooney sul set: ''E' stato come tornare a casa, e come se fosse passata una vita. Non pensavo che George accettasse, e abbiamo cercato di mantenere il segreto per non partecipare a tutti i talk show''. Nella puntata finale, scritta dallo storico autore John Wells, c'e' stato anche un richiamo a una tragedia familiare. La storia di una delle pazienti, una ragazza di 17 anni caduta in coma etilico, e' ispirata a quanto accaduto a Shelby Lyn Allen, nipote proprio di Wells, trovata morta in un bagno dopo una notte passata a bere con le amiche. ''Quello che puo' sembrare un divertimento tra amici puo' portare a una condizione medica molto pericolosa'' ha detto Wells, che ha voluto cosi' rendere il suo show un veicolo per le informazioni ai genitori e ai teenager americani, che hanno fatto del binge drinking, il bere fino a stare male, un vero sport. ''Voglio che tutti sappiano che intervenire immediatamente puo' salvare delle vite - ha aggiunto Debbie Allen, madre della ragazza -, non voglio che altre famiglie debbano soffrire quello che stiamo passando noi ogni giorno della nostra vita''.

NEWS - Ultima ora, clamoroso al CibalER! George Clooney torna a vestire il camice del Dr. Ross tra i "Medici in prima linea" (House, preparati!)
(ANSA) - ROMA, 13 MAR - George Clooney potrebbe presto tornare nei panni del dottor Doug Ross, il fascinoso pediatra che ha interpretato in "E.R." (lo show ambientato in un pronto soccorso di Chicago) dal 1994 al 1999. I produttori esecutivi della serie, John Wells e David Zabel hanno detto a "Entertainment Weekly" che vorrebbero riunire per la prossima stagione, la quindicesima, e presumibilmente ultima, del telefilm, molti degli attori protagonisti di "E.R." attraverso gli anni, Clooney compreso. ''Vogliamo rivisitare i personaggi che hanno animato lo show lungo gli anni e mostrare dove sono ora'' ha spiegato Zabel, che in particolare rivorrebbe Clooney nel ruolo di Doug Ross e Julianna Margulies in quello di Carol Hathaway, la capo infermiera con cui il dottore ha avuto due gemelle. ''Vorremmo riaverli tutti indietro nella serie, ma questo non significa che riusciremo a farlo. Pero' ci proveremo''. Zabel ha gia' garantito intanto che Noah Wyle tornera' nella prossima stagione per interpretare in quattro puntate il Dr. Carter, e dovrebbe tornare nello show anche Goran Visnjic. ''La cosa piu' difficile sara' riportare nel telefilm Tony Edwards visto che il suo personaggio e' morto - ha aggiunto il produttore -. E' un po' complicato, ma ci sono modi per farlo e ci abbiamo pensato. Anche magari come se fosse un episodio perso dalla stagione del 1996, con lui e Wyle''. Zabel ha anche annunciato intanto che nelle rimanenti puntate della stagione in corso ci sara' per tre settimane, nel ruolo di una paziente, Aida Turturro ("I Soprano") e che arrivera' un nuovo dottore particolarmente affascinante (interpretato da un attore australiano sconosciuto). ''Sara' un marpione sexy, un diavolo a cui non puoi resistere - ha spiegato Zabel -. Un nuovo personaggio dinamico ha l'abilita' di smuovere tutti, anche se e' facile eccitarsi pensando alla prossima stagione, considerando che sara' l'ultima''.