Was it Canceled?

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

When I was a kid, I didn't understand much of why a show was canceled or renewed. I generally thought that the writers had no more stories for a specific set of characters, and that's why so many series finales were big, all-out episodes. The randomness of Michelle's amnesia on Full House comes to mind. Later, I thought that they ended shows when the characters got past the age that the show was designed to portray - like when the Saved by the Bell gang graduated from high school. That made perfect sense to me, especially because Saved by the Bell: The College Years was a completely separate show, as was Good Morning, Miss Bliss, when Zack, Screech, and Lisa were in middle school. When I got to high school, however, I started to learn (the hard way, of course), that it wasn't so much to do with the writers or the characters - it was the ratings. Somewhere around 1998 I began to "try out" new shows, as opposed to catching ones that were already established and joining the crowd. I loved a show I've written about before, which was so forgettable that nobody has ever been able to tell me what it was called... I suspect it lasted about five episodes, and was about teenagers going to high school while pursuing Olympic dreams. In 1999 I thought that Get Real was an awesome show, and I became a fan of Anne Hathaway even before The Princess Diaries. It lasted a single season. Just like last year's Better with You. A lot of shows don't last that long, though... 10-13 episodes are all they get, like Miami Medical, Sons of Tucson, and The Goode Family.

But, the time has come and the hammer is down... the majority of the 2011-2012 shows on the broadcast networks have now been renewed. We knew that the time was coming, what with the network up-fronts this coming week, but the vast majority of renewals and cancellations have already been announced, so here ya go. Hope you're not too upset! After the announcements I'll post a few thoughts.

First, the cancellations. Because, otherwise, you'll just scroll down to read those first anyway. I know you. :)

NBC really has the boatload of cancellations. Chuck is the only show that "just ended" while they have also pulled The Playboy Club, Free Agents, Awake, Bent, Best Friends Forever, The Firm, Harry's Law, Prime Suspect, and Are You There, Chelsea?. If you haven't heard of some of them, you're not alone. Many are blaming poor marketing and bad timeslot placement for several of these shows failing, particularly Bent.

From ABC, many of these were already known, but they've canceled Charlie's Angels, Man Up, Pan Am, Work It, Missing, GCB, and The River. Desperate Housewives has ended as well.

FOX has canceled Allen Gregory, Terra Nova, Breaking In, Alcatraz, I Hate My Teenage Daughter, and The Finder. They've also pulled the plug on House. They have not yet announced the futures for Napoleon Dynamite or Bob's Burgers.

CBS is holding onto the announcements for seven of their shows (including both CSI spin-offs and Two and a Half Men), so stay tuned for more on those, but they've actually canceled A Gifted Man and How to be a Gentleman.

If you care about the CW, they've canceled The Secret Circle and Ringer, and One Tree Hill is also finally ending. An announcement is pending for The LA Complex.


Now, onto the renewals!
On NBC, you'll see more of 30 Rock, Whitney, Up All Night, Smash, The Office, Grimm, Community, Parenthood, Parks & Recreation, and Law and Order: SVU.

ABC will bring you more Modern Family, The Middle, Suburgatory, Once Upon a Time, Last Man Standing, Grey's Anatomy, Castle, Body of Proof, Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23, Happy Endings, Private Practice, Revenge, and Scandal. Cougar Town has not been canceled, but you'll have to have TBS to watch new episodes next season.

FOX has decided to renew Bones, Glee, Fringe, New Girl, Raising Hope, Touch, American Dad, The Cleveland Show, Family Guy, and The Simpsons.

Over on CBS, look forward to more NCIS, NCIS: LA, CSI, How I Met Your Mother, 2 Broke Girls, Mike & Molly, The Big Bang Theory, Criminal Minds, Person of Interest, Hawaii Five-0, Blue Bloods, The Good Wife, and The Mentalist.

And, if you're a CW person, have fun with additonal 90210, Gossip Girl, Hart of Dixie, Nikita, Supernatural, and The Vampire Diaries.


Now, some thoughts...
None of the announced cancellations truly upset me this year. Perhaps if ABC would have officially canceled Pan Am a few months ago I would have cared more, but I've made my peace with it by this point. I'm a tad bummed that Terra Nova won't see the light of day again, but I didn't think it would get renewed so I wasn't crossing my fingers there. Alcatraz's cancellation does bum me out a bit, and I was hoping for an eleventh-hour renewal, but I can handle it going away, too. I'm downright thrilled that GCB is off the air and I'll wave goodbye as House finishes up in a few weeks. I do think that Bent deserved more of a chance, but it's too late now, anyway. I hope you're able to make your peace with the future of your favorite show (and hang in there, folks banking on one of the remaining few to be saved!), but we're going to have a lot to look forward to with the rest of the new pick-ups coming this week!

Alcatraz: End of Season 1 *SPOILERS*

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

I normally don't post SPOILERS in the title. Generally, I don't think you should be reading recaps and remarks about episodes you haven't seen. But the season finale of Alcatraz was pretty shocking, so I felt the need to warn you that Madsen dies. Yep. I couldn't believe it. I'm not sure what the writers were going for there, especially since we have not yet heard whether FOX plans to renew the show. While I would have preferred this to continue, in comparison with already-cancelled Terra Nova, the numbers aren't looking good, and I would not be surprised if this was the end of the thriller. It's a shame, though, because even though we started to learn about how things came together in these final two episodes, I was still left with a lot of questions. Lucy being the subject of many of them, really...c'est la vie and on with the recaps!

Alcatraz "Garrett Stillman" (S01E12): Lucy realizes that Madsen and Soto don't know about her, so she apologizes for keeping it a secret. Madsen is more accepting of it than Soto, who launches into interrogation mode, primarily about the fact that there is no documentation of a female doctor on Alcatraz ANYWHERE. Lucy says that the warden kept secrets. [yeah, yeah. we already knew that.] He then asks her what it's like to make the "jump" fifty years., but we get very little out of her. [disappointing. has she not pieced together what happened at ALL yet?] Lucy tells Madsen that she can ask her anything, so she asks what Tommy was like. [while we all know that Madsen wants to hear SOMETHING good about her grandfather, it's not really going to happen.] Tommy was charming and ruthless, as most inmates were. He was also manipulative, relentless, and patient. Lucy doesn't know why Tommy would have killed Madsen's partner. Lucy also doesn't seem to know why she, herself, is a target of the 63s. Madsen realizes that Lucy used to have a relationship with Hauser, and learns that the emotionless man was once a romantic, hardening after searching for 50 years to find Lucy again. [what was that supposed to do for viewers? Make us like Hauser more? It was a little goosebumps-inducing, tho.]  

A bunch of masked men rob an armored truck, and this is picked up by Soto's system. Soto and Lucy realize it's Garrett, who liked elaborate schemes and excelled at robbery. It seems that Garrett is killing his helpers and isn't after money (only taking uniforms). Madsen questions the security company and we learn that they've lost two trucks in the past month. There are non-reproducible codes on the uniforms that change monthly, though Madsen advises them to change the codes immediately. [you know, I understand it's for security and whatnot, but this whole Big Brother thing via clothing is getting to be a bit much. I just read an article this morning about Brazil recording student attendance this way.] Soto realizes that another former Alcatraz inmate, Simmons, became a billionaire, and theorizes that Garrett is trying to rob him of a mysterious package that is always moving around. Madsen, Soto, and Hauser head out to intercept, and Soto ends up being the one to figure out Garrett's plan - the three armored trucks are a ruse. Instead, Garrett hotwires an SUV to take, so Soto plants his cell phone in the backseat so they can track it. [clever going, Soto! Though I wonder why you get out of the car... you've been a target before, too.] Before the crew catches up to Garrett, however, another old inmate, "Ghost," arrives, kills Garrett, and takes off with the key from the package. Soto gets a glimpse of a car leaving, so he uses a traffic cam to match the vehicle - Tommy Madsen was driving, so it appears that he, too, was after the key. [no surprise there.] Speaking of keys, Hauser and Lucy finally found a secret area of Alcatraz where they insert the two uncovered keys... only to learn that a third key is also needed. [of course. it couldn't be that simple.]  

In 1960, the warden invites Garrett to attend a parole hearing for Simmons, who is a good prisoner but has been caught with contraband on several occasions. Simmons is denied parole, but the warden asks Garrett to steal the denial paperwork and replace it with approval paperwork - it seems that Tiller doesn't want Simmons to leave because he gets a big cut of his business, and that's why he denied him. [oh, corruption. always alive.] The warden even suggests that Garrett could take over Simmons' business and that he'd only ask for 20%. Garrett talks to a few other inmates and devises a way to forge a hearing slip, get the signatures on it, and swap it out. Tiller catches him and another steward rats him out, causing Tiller personally swaps the verdicts. [I saw this coming. you?] The warden takes a while to catch on, but is happy with the result. [of course.] He also gives Simmons a note when he leaves, saying that they'll be in touch again someday. [when's the last time you saw a TV villain who was such a sinister mastermind??]

Alcatraz "Tommy Madsen" (S01E13):  Joe Limerick goes to a psychiatric hospital, saying that he's from Alcatraz and that bad people (aka Tommy Madsen) are chasing him. He's admitted and we see he has the key with him. Tommy knows this, so he kidnaps a woman who works at the hospital, so he'll be able to get past the retina scanners. Of course, she isn't home when he comes looking, so he roughs up her husband and scares her daughter, who runs away unseen. It's the little girl who helps Madsen, Soto, and Hauser figure out the link, after a long period of coloring to get her to talk. [I was amazed that the original sketch was so well-done with no descriptions from the child. Similarly, I was surprised that Soto and Madsen found out about the possible match so quickly. The coloring thing was boring, though. I feel like NCIS has beaten that horse to death.] Tommy brings the woman to the hospital as a hostage, running around to find Ghost, who claims he doesn't have the key. Ghost jumps out of a window to avoid Tommy, just as Madsen and Hauser pull up. Madsen goes after Tommy, who drops the woman (and she's reunited with her daughter). [why would you bring a child to the scene to meet her mother? Why not wait and bring the mother to the station?] Madsen commandeers a new mustang to chase Tommy, eventually ramming him and having to pull him from a burning vehicle. [we saw hotwiring in two episodes in a row? Is it 1987?] He reminds her

CR: Liane Hentscher/FOX

that they're family, then explains that he killed her partner, Harlem, because the guy was being paid to watch her, plus he was involved with the warden. [This, combined with the fact that she had just learned Harlem was under investigation for accepting payments from Simmons' company, starts to throw Madsen.] He also starts to tell her that her parents had a wrongful death, but she's caught off-guard and he stabs her and drives off. [I couldn't believe he'd do that! jerk! he probably didn't realize how serious the injury was, though...] Madsen is brought to the emergency room, and when Ray shows up, he orders Hauser to leave, just before recognizing Lucy. [And Ray is a normal guy... you'd think that one of the "non-63" living Alcatraz guards or criminals would recall a woman doctor and there would have been a record SOMEPLACE...] Madsen is pronounced dead after several life-saving measures are taken. [!!! this is worse than Lucy's coma, so I don't know if colloidal silver could do much...]

Hauser has had his own little side-story going on all episode - he's paranoid that something will happen to Lucy, so he arranges a military buddy (who knows everything, even about Tommy) to take her to Paraguay. [just how many people know about this project? I was surprised to learn that Hauser has confidants...] In order for Hauser to be able to go with her to help her settle in, he has to brief Madsen and Soto on some of his secrets, like what's in his "bat cave," the story about the keys and door, his theory that the warden is behind it all, and that some sort of tectonic shift caused the "jump." [Of course, they should have been clued-in on this long ago. And, it doesn't much matter, as Lucy doesn't want to be hidden away.] Later, after being kicked out of the emergency room, Hauser and Lucy take the third key (which Soto found sewn inside the cuff of Ghost's pants) and enter the door to find a large room with lots of equipment and a map of the US marked with the inmates' numbers. It seems that the colloidal silver in the 63s' blood can be used to track them (Beauregard had earlier determined that it can never be separated as it binds to the platelets), and that they likely had a rhyme and reason to when and where the 63s "reappear." They also find a guy lying on the ground behind the machines, shocked to learn that it's 2012.

In 1960, Limerick tried to escape but didn't make it. He was gone long enough, however, that the warden had already filled out a death certificate for drowning. Because he's officially dead, he's kept in his cell 24/7, and it explains his "Ghost" nickname. We also see Tommy painfully re-injected with his own, altered blood. He gets to leave Alcatraz for a day and spends it with the warden in Nob Hill, where they eat Italian food and Tommy gets to see his son, Ben, who doesn't recognize him. The warden offers Tommy a wish, and Tommy asks that Ray be terminated and given custody of Ben. Tommy tells Ray that he needs to leave the island, that there are no more plans because he's guilty after all. [not sure I believe that...]

Alcatraz: Returning a Favor

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

This episode had its share of unusual moments. For starters, we were still seeing credits nineteen minutes into the show... what's that about?? Second, I was caught a bit off-guard when we flashed back to 1960 but we're in the prison, but elsewhere in San Francisco... was everyone else ready for that? We've also now learned that the experiments that were being done did find some degree of success, which I suppose is comforting. Well, especially now, since the colloidal blood can actually be used to seemingly affect Lucy in a positive way. Speaking of Lucy, it's about freakin' time that Soto and Madsen found out that she's a 63!! I was going to be so upset if that recording was playing and neither of them caught that!! My final overall thought about this episode is a nitpick about Webb Porter's awful violin pretending. How hard is it to find an actor with some musical training? Fake violining kills me every time! I'm not asking every actor to go take lessons, but would a basic knowledge of how the instrument works help make the bowings/fingerings/etc look more realisitic? I say YES. 

Alcatraz "Webb Porter" (S01E11): Madsen is with her autopsy friend when the latter is paged to a scene, so Madsen goes, too. A little blood is found at the scene, and a test reveals that it is "tainted" with colloidal silver, so Hauser tells Madsen and Soto that it's a 63. [you know, since he doesn't share any of the interesting findings with them.] Hauser sends the blood sample to Beauregard to test, and it turns out that it matches Lucy's blood type. Just before this, Soto was out and about and stopped by the hospital to see Lucy... only to learn that she isn't there anymore.

Porter plays the violin, starts a bath, and then drowns a bound and gagged woman. Before that, though, he had cut/ripped out most of her hair, which we later learn he uses to string his violin bows. [GROSS. as a violinist, this grosses me out so much more than when I first understood that bows are made with horsehair!] Porter goes to play the violin for another girl, then attacks her. We then see him at an audition, where he is unable to sight-read. He drowns the second girl. [looks like this guy will get through several killings before he's stopped, eh?] Hauser and Madsen show up at the scene, and Soto learns that violin music was heard at both crime scenes, meaning it was the killer playing it. Hauser thinks he knows who it is, and, CONVENIENTLY, Webb Porter has carved his name into the back of the violin in Alcatraz's music room. Hauser asks around and learns that there's a new violinist stacking chairs at the Philharmonic, so Hauser learns where Porter lives from the Philharmonic, and the group is off. [interesting that Hauser is doing more of the detective work this episode - especially since he seems to still be hurt or something... you know, because he was taking those meds behind closed doors earlier?] Madsen picks the lock and they barge in, finding a red-haired bow in the trash... Porter will soon need more red hair. [isn't this a super-creepy way to find a killer? I think so. AND, Porter's allegedly been living there for MONTHS... how did he pass a background check to get this place??] They cross-reference the donors to the philharmonic with the color of their hair and find two possible redheads. [nope. not believe it. that system cannot rule out haircolors! right??] One checks in on a social network so they head to the home of the other. [well that dates things...] They find her tied up, but she still has her hair. She tells them that Porter went to "perform," so Madsen and Hauser head to the auditorium, chasing Porter and catching him just before he leaps several stories. Hauser brings him to Lucy, then Beauregard begins to draw blood. We see Lucy open her eyes right around the same time that Soto and Madsen find footage of Lucy while digitizing archival recordings of Alcatraz. [spooky, right?]

In 1960, Hauser asks out Lucy and they go to a jazz club. Back at Alcatraz, the warden tells Lucy about Webb Porter, a quirky inmate with a high IQ. He killed five people, including his mother (who tried to drown him as a child). [whoa. the kid deserves to be quirky.] She realizes that he has ringing in his ears and offers to "remove the memory of his mother's trying to drown him." Lucy has him listen to music and recount the night he nearly died. Porter then teaches himself to play the violin - playing the song he "hears" inside. [savant, indeed! violin is hard, yo.] Porter is sent back to the general population, bringing his violin with him. He thanks Lucy. ["maybe one day I'll be able to return the favor" was ridiculous writing, guys. agreed?]

CR: Liane Hentscher/FOX

Alcatraz: Memory Tampering

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

This episode was kinda creepy, but at least it wasn't horrific. It was a bit disturbing, but that's what this show is going for half of the time! Overall, the episode once again revealed a lot to the audience. However, at this point there is so much going on, it didn't actually wrap-up anything at all. Well, we seem to now have the gist that the 1950s Alcatraz was draining blood from the inmates, chemically modifying it, then re-inserting it. And, the removal of memories thing apparently works both ways - we now know that you can force them in. It gives me the chills to think about the sinister things that the warden did to those men! While the chance of renewal is still anyone's call (though there are quite a few NegativeNancys out there!), I hope that a few of the issues begin to tie up over the next three episodes!

Alcatraz "Clarence Montgomery" (S01E08): At a cocktail party, Clarence catches a young lady's eye, and they're soon off flirting and riding a golf cart. He starts to talk to her about a house they could have together, then kills her. [whoa.... say what?!?] He places her body in a specific position while questioning who did this to her. [so he doesn't think he did it himself?] Then, Clarence visits Emmett, an old friend from Cell Block C. Clarence tells him that he used to have his blood drawn consistently and it messed him up in the head. [so, Tommy wasn't the only guy!] Emmett insists that Clarence was an innocent guy, but Clarence claims that things have changed. Clarence sets up a wedding reception as a caterer and picks up another girl. Another body is soon found at a different golf course. [well this guy is a nut job, eh?]

Soto sits around checking out crimes for possible matches with 63s. [the guy has no day job anymore, I take it?] It's the positioning of the first girl's body that catches his eye and makes him wonder if Clarence is back. The autopsy reveals it's a different killer because the original is left-handed and Clarence is right-handed, plus, the "new" body was also killed more precisely than the first. [and, ya know, Clarence is a chef and all.] The African-American hair on the body reveals that the murderer has Wilson's disease. Madsen and Soto find Emmett's name in Clarence's box so they pay him a visit, learning that Clarence loved a (white) girl and was to run away with her to a house. Madsen and Soto try to figure out why a man who was "innocent"

CR: Liane Hentscher/FOX

fifty years ago would now be a murderer, then go to the catering company who worked the event where the latest girl was killed. Clarence immediately runs and gets away from Madsen. At the autopsy place, they realize that Emmett is likely getting prescriptions for Clarence, so Madsen and Soto get Hauser and head over there, but not before Doc asks out the girl for a drink and she accepts. [awww! so excited for him!] Emmett shoots a shotgun repeatedly, claiming that the Lord gave Clarence a second chance so they can't send him back to prison. Meanwhile, Hauser goes around the outside of the building and finds Clarence. Hauser gets Clarence to confess to Emmett, who kills his old friend.

Hauser meets with the Chief of Police to hand over proof that another guy killed the original girl in 1958. [Hauser is under some heat because he's stealing cases? oook.] Soto tells Madsen that there were a lot of experiments in the prison system in the 1950s, like having blood drawn, radioactive materials added to it, and having it re-injected. [are you serious? Doc never thought about these types of experiments being the reason that these 63s are "coming back" un-aged?] 

In a mess hall scene from 1960, Clarence is pulled aside to talk to the warden, who wants him to prepare the menu and supervise the kitchen for a chef's day coming up. He's hesitant, but his buddy tells him it's a good idea - a revolution is coming. [I'm impressed that the warden would offer such a thing as well!] Clarence thanks the warden for this opportunity. Unfortunately, many of the (white) prisoners refused to eat the food, and the white and black inmates get into such a fight that the room needs to be flooded with tear gas. [not gonna lie... as someone who has toured Alcatraz twice, I've been looking forward to an episode where they use that tear gas that was installed!] Clarence is later taken out of his cell and beaten by a guard, then brought to a chair, strapped down, injected with something, and made to watch a video about the trial finding him guilty. [and this part makes me sad. I don't do so well with folks being forced to hear lies. :-(] He is electrocuted in an attempt to make him believe the video is true - to force false memories upon him. [boo!!!] Later, in the laundry room, he's confronted by an officer (Tiller) who degrades him yet again. One inmate is nice to him, but Clarence has flashbacks of the video and kills him with a boxcutter, arranging the body in the same position. [Soto didn't know that Clarence killed someone in Alcatraz? This was kept under wraps?] Lucy asks Clarence about the laundry room death, and he keeps maintaining his innocence about the original death. Lucy wants to remove the memories, but he doesn't allow her to do so. [why should he trust her?] The warden tells Milton that he doesn't do anything to the "blood" between when it's removed and when it's returned, but Milton knows better.

Alcatraz: Two Episodes = FOUR 63s!

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

I found these episodes to be the most horrifying yet. While I think that it's good to have a thriller drama on television, if I need to look away more than once, I tend to not want to watch anymore of that program. So, let's hope that this was more of an isolated incident (maybe that's part of the reason that they aired these two back-to-back?). I was surprised that the first episode had THREE of the 63s featured... what's the rush? Or did we just want to see that the guards and the inmates can be on the same team now? Either way, I think I like fewer bad guys per hour. I also found it interesting that the events in "The Ames Brothers" took place over just a few hours... I bet we won't see that happen again! It probably was a lower-budget episode, though... everything on the island and no outdoor scenes. It did open up a new can of worms, however, about the warden!

Alcatraz "The Ames Brothers" (S01E09): One of Hauser's men has been conducting some type of experiment at night, and since Hauser isn't there, Soto goes to see what's going on. [cool. I'm interested to learn what Hauser's secret crew does!] Unfortunately, Pinky Ames has bludgeoned the guy so it's only moments before Soto is caught as well. They Ames brothers demand that Soto figure out their antiquated map and lead them through the tunnels... but they don't actually want him with them, so the lock him in a cell. Madsen calls Soto after ten minutes but gets his voicemail. She notices the experiment on the monitors has been abandoned, so she goes to investigate. Soon after she leaves, Hauser arrives and watches some surveillance tapes to figure out what's going on. [good. glad those cameras are coming in handy. though we're almost dragging out that point now.] Madsen

CR: Liane Hentscher/FOX

discovers Donovan, a Ranger who was also an Alcatraz officer in the 60s. She doesn't know him, so she asks him some questions, he makes up answers, and she soon realizes that he is "from the past." At that point, however, the Ames brothers have found them. [why was Donovan separated from the brothers in the first place? and what were these guys doing for a MONTH?] Shots are fired and Madsen gets Herman... luckily, Hauser arrives when Pinky is about to knock her over the head. He gets shot, though, so they start running, losing their enemies when they pass through a card-reading door.

In his cell, Soto calls his buddy at the Comic Shop to ask him to find out if the cells were retrofitted with lock releases. [I'm a bit baffled he was able to make a call, both because I assumed the guys would take his phone AND because he wouldn't have service. Also, odd Twilight blackmail.] By the time Soto gets out, however, Pinky and Donovan return. They want to make Madsen and Hauser "pay" for killing Herman, so Pinky kicks Soto a few times, but Donovan tells him to leave the guy alive. They decide to hold Soto hostage, in an attempt to lure out Madsen. [poor Soto... I don't think he signed up for all of this!]

Meanwhile, Hauser and Madsen learn that the Ames brothers were bank robbers and had spent some time looking for gold underneath Alcatraz years ago. Since Hauser is injured, the plan is for Madsen to get Donovan to deliver Soto to Hauser, while she deals with Pinky. Madsen meets with Donovan and Soto, and Pinky sneaks up behind her. She is able to hurt him instead, then she's on the run while Donovan takes Soto to the card-reader door. Hauser programs the door to open, while Madsen drops a bench on Pinky. [are he and Herman both dead? or just knocked out?] Soon after Soto and Donovan are through the door, the old officer beats our beloved PhD. [:(] Madsen gets there, thanks Doc for saving her life, then takes off in pursuit of Donovan, who found "the door" and blows it open with dynamite. Hauser also arrives, but he doesn't really help. We see Donovan entering the space and searching around to find nothing, then Madsen comes in and arrests him.

[old Alcatraz] The brothers have lunch together and demand a spoon from another inmate. Pinky lifts a key and gets some soap from Donovan, who turns the other way as the brothers imprint the key, melt the spoon, and fill the mold. [viewers will recognize it as a key similar to the ones seen earlier in the season.] Unfortunately, there's a shift change and the boys need more time, so they use a bandsaw to sever another inmate's finger. Later, Pinky and Herman are taken to the hole after Herman acts drunk during chapel and Pinky (who is an usher of sorts) is blamed for giving him wine. Donovan escorts them alone, and they beat him up and throw him in the hole. [though viewers know it's really a fake beating.] In the tunnels, they get to a large door and try their keys... but they don't fit the locks. They're caught, and Ray was with the warden. In order to keep Ray quiet about the gold, the warden offers him a commendation and a dinner invite. Ray tells Tommy (who is still in the infirmary for whatever reason) about it all. [interesting that we'd get Ray involved here...] We see the warden in the locked room, looking at some gold bricks. [ooooohhhh....]

At the end of the episode, Hauser learns that the big keys belonged to the warden. He asks Donovan, who is hooked up to what looks like a torture device, for more information, but we don't see Donovan's response. 

Alcatraz "Sonny Burnett" (S01E10): Two guys are driving along when they see a guy in the road. They swerve and slam on the brakes, only for the guy, Sonny, to kill one and kidnap the other. [spooky opener!] Hauser, Madsen, and Soto talk to the wife (Helen) of the kidnapped man (David), and it turns out that she was kidnapped by Sonny in the 50s. [I was surprised that Soto didn't recognize this sooner until we learned her name was never in the paper because she was only 14.] Helen talks about how she was a partner in crime for Sonny, and that it took her three months to "escape" from him. [I was interested to hear how she managed - that wasn't revealed.] It turns out that Sonny is holding Helen's husband at Berkeley Downs, and is asking for $100,000 - this is notable because it's the same place he kept Helen, and the same sum he asked for. But, Madsen discovers that David has already been killed, and that Sonny killed two policemen and threatened Helen during the time of the "drop." [it made me sad that the police didn't see him coming any better than that.] Hauser and Madsen go back to Helen, and she realizes that they knew it was Sonny. [I was really shocked that she didn't ask more questions about how he was "alive."] Helen tells them that Sonny wants revenge on her because she dug up a money box of his years ago. [love the idea that Hauser tells them to keep all of the 63s alive from here on out, and Doc says to Madsen that Hauser is the only one who shoots the guys... but we saw Madsen shoot Herman, right?]

Soto cross-checks cars on the surveillance tapes near the drop site with stolen cars in the area AND the tire tread marks found when Pierce was kidnapped and finds two possibilities. The first one is it, as a passerby identifies Sonny as living in a house with a guy named Willie. In the house, Madsen realizes that Sonny has Helen's daughter, Danielle's, flight information. [Madsen wanted security places on everyone close to Helen... why was Danielle unescorted while flying?] Next, we see Sonny as a chauffeur at the airport. [I fly fairly often and never pay attention to the folks holding name signs because I know nobody is picking me up. Since Danielle wasn't planning on being picked up randomly, why would she notice the signs?] Soto and Madsen use a partial serial number on the saw at the drop site to find the store where it was sold. They talk to the guy who helped with Sonny's purchases, and figure out that he must be building a human-sized box. [omg guys. super freaky!] The screen cuts immediately to Danielle being trapped in a box while Sonny buries it. [ahhhh!] Hauser finds out the stolen towncar has a lo-jack, so he heads toward Danville, though Madsen ad Soto beat him there. They tail Sonny, and a police blockade stops him. Tons of workers arrive and they walk a line in the field, miraculously finding Danielle. [okay... I feel like this case really got out of control... is Hauser really able to keep all of the identities of these criminals a secret from other law enforcement officials and the media?? They better address this soon...]

[Now, Sonny's backstory...] When Sonny first arrived at Alcatraz, he went to Hicks, wanting to buy "lifetime protection." He has a box of money buried in a field, but it wasn't there when Hicks' outside men went looking for it, so he stabs Sonny repeatedly. Sonny spends a few days in the infirmary, but then is sent to "the hole" for thirty days. He uses this time to bulk up, and starts a fight nearly as soon as he's back in the yard. Back to confinement he goes. When he returns, he starts yet another fight, this time going as far as gouging out Hick's eyes. [so the guy really started out as a coward and became a brutal guy... how frightening!]

[off the story of this episode's 63, let's look at the drama...] Hauser goes to see the Alcatraz doctor about his bullet wound and learns that the 63s are in tip-top shape... possibly because their blood has silver in it. [hmmm....] They consider giving some to Lucy, but they'll have to wait until someone has the right blood type anyway. [who's paying to keep her alive?] Sonny's blood is the right type, but it doesn't have the colloidal silver component. [so not everyone has the healing powers anyway? and are we really in a scenario where the only person skilled enough to save Lucy is Lucy? Like in Friends' version of Days of Our Lives, Dr. Drake Ramoray was the only one who could have saved himself??]

Ray tells Hauser that he wants Rebecca off the project, but Hauser questions why Ray cares all of a sudden... after all it's been a few months now. Ray then tells Rebecca that Tommy is a bad guy. So, in turn, Madsen tells Hauser that Ray thinks he's being watched, and she wants to be the first call if Tommy is spotted. She fills in Soto about the whole thing as well. [if you're having nightmares about something, is talking to multiple people about the enemy in those dreams the best idea?]

---
*Please note that "Clarence Montgomery" (S01E08) was preempted last week and will air next week, March 12th. You may have noticed that the "scenes from the next" were familiar - they aired after "Johnny McKee" a few weeks ago.

***FOX Shows Preempted Tonight! (2/27/12)

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

For those who were hoping to watch House and Alcatraz tonight, February 27th, I'm sorry to break it to you. The East Coast is already well aware, but for those of us who live out West, there was a crash during the NASCAR event that caused a huge fire. As of right now, they're STILL cleaning up the mess and the race will apparently resume at some point. So, FOX had to pull their Monday night dramas. 

FOX

So, when will they air?
The House episode will air Monday, March 19th, so we've got a while.
On the other hand, Alcatraz will double-up next week, so that isn't too bad. 

Luckily, CBS has a full night of comedies, so head on over there if you'd rather laugh than watch something on your Netflix queue!

***

Update: As of March 4th, it looks like House will indeed air the missed episode on March 19th. Alcatraz, on the other hand, will air the planned double-header on March 5th, then air the missed episode on March 12th, so keep that in mind when you're watching this week!

Alcatraz: Serial Poisoner

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

This was the scariest criminal yet, in my opinion. I understood his reasoning behind killing some of those people back in the 1950s, but why kill a whole table of guys when one was rude? Why kill a swimming pool full of folks if one was snappy? And what did any of those people on the train ever do to bully someone else? Furthermore, if McKee was always obsessed with Jules Verne and had plotted to kill people on the underwater train all along, why did he bother with the first two sets of killings first? He needed time to perfect his gas? That's why I thought that the timing in this episode was a bit off. Otherwise, it was a pretty good episode... I hope people stop giving up on this show... the numbers aren't amazing right now and I'd like to see the show keep going...

Alcatraz "Johnny McKee" (S01E07): At a club in Chinatown, a guy demands free drinks because his friend got engaged. The bartender poisons the drinks, and there's a video of the guys keeling over on youtube. Soto's playing Starcraft 2 when it happens and the video pops up. [wonder what he's running to make that filter out?] The facial recognition software tells him it's Johnny McKee, so he calls Madsen and meets him at the club. Johnny McKee was in Alcatraz for killing 70 people - 42 in one sitting at his high school reunion! Cyanide is his poison of choice, but he does use other things. He plead not-guilty to the murders, claiming justifiable homicide against bullies from years ago. Madsen interviews the bar manager and looks at McKee's application for an address. [I thought the translation of this cell block to a street was funny.] The cell next to his was Sylvane's, so Hauser brings Sylvane to Madsen. [no way he'd let her know where Sylvane is being held!] Of course, Sylvane asks Madsen how he got here (to 2012). Madsen learns that McKee used to keep a jar in his cell... he'd kill bugs by putting them in there with some poisonous berries or seeds. Madsen also tries to learn a bit about Tommy, but all she finds out what that the doctors did things to him and that he talked of a "hole below the hole" at Alcatraz. The trio determine that McKee was using nightshade at Alcatraz, so they try to figure out where McKee could have procured some now.

Meanwhile, McKee is interviewing at a resort. He's hired almost immediately as a pool boy, and he mixes poison into the water, killing another six or seven people. Then we see him in a lab of sorts, wearing a gas max and mixing things. [this guy is just gonna keep going!]

Soto found out that the tox screen on the bar deaths came back clean, then he finds a lead on the nightshade. [are we gonna have Soto have an ongoing love interest in the morgue worker?] It's a good thing that Hauser comes along, as the shop owner only speaks Chinese. [and for those of you who don't believe that situation happens, it does. I've walked into several restaurants, let alone stores, where Chinese is the only language spoken.] They obtain the address (the

CR: Liane Hentscher/FOX

nightshade had to be delivered) and find that it's an abandoned high school. Hauser and Madsen go through the place and find the chem lab smells like freshly cut grass. Turns out, McKee was mixing a chemical that was used in World War I. [so it's clear that there's some lingering chemicals because of the smell... but I guess it's not enough to make our trio ill?] Soto, Madsen, and Hauser realize that McKee was obsessed with Jules Verne and the idea that "the future is now," so they put two and two together regarding an old article they found of his... so they also head to the BART.

Meanwhile, McKee is on the BART and knocks out the driver. Once they're under the Bay, he releases the gas. Madsen and Hauser head for a maintenance cart and some emergency tubes once they realize that a train is stopped. [they got there a bit too quickly in my San Franciscan opinion, though.] They break some glass and help get some people out as McKee makes a break for it. He tries to poison Madsen but they fight and he gets electrocuted on the track. [I don't think he's dead tho, Madsen said he had a pulse.]

Back at the holding area, Sylvane requests to talk to Hauser... and hands him back a photo of a woman. He asks what'll happen to the prisoners, and says that he's changed... he doesn't dream. The idea is put in place that Lucy did something to stop the inmates from dreaming, and it may have been successful. [speaking of Lucy, when are they gonna get her out of that coma??]

[Oh, and for McKee's backstory...] In 1960, we see McKee examining an insect in a glass jar. One prisoner asks him to poison another, so he trades a dirty magazine for a "sitcker" or shiv. He mixes his berries in the jar and spreads the goo on the tip, waiting for the right moment. But, instead of killing the guy he was told to, he kills the guy who ordered him to do it, since he doesn't like bullies. [wow... I'm amazed... how did he stab the guy and nobody noticed? Also, it takes some guts to kill someone in Alcatraz!] We also see him talk to Lucy, and we learn that he once was in love with a girl named Ginny. They went on a date, then up on the roof, and after she had him remove his clothing, the lights came on and the football team laughed at him and threw firecrackers. [awww... hate those kids!] A cherry bomb took his testicles, and he burned Ginny's face as punishment. [wow, creepster!]

Alcatraz: Lucy Has More Secrets

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

When we first learned that Lucy was a doctor on Alcatraz back in the day, I was pretty shocked. Not to learn that there was a woman doctor, but because I hadn't realized that there were non-prisoners, non-guards "coming back" as well. Then, we discovered that Dr. Beauregard was also "transported" somehow. Now, why would the two doctors "come back" first AND find Hauser AND work undercover? Hauser has aged, so he wasn't part of whatever "experiment" took place... right? So, my thought process is that Beauregard and Lucy must have also been "captured," but broke out early or something? But if that was the case, wouldn't they know more about what was going on and how these things are happening? And now I'm also extra-confused... if Soto never knew of a female doctor on Alcatraz, that means that there must be NO documentation of Lucy AT ALL. So... why was she there? What sort of organization was she with, and why was it so secretive? The intrigue is really starting to lure me in deeper, guys. What are your theories thus far on what's going on?

Alcatraz "Paxton Petty" (S01E06): A bunch of bombs go off in a public space, but once our team of heroes realize they're landmines, both Hauser and Soto realize at the same time that the culprit is Paxton Petty. Hauser works on finding the locations of other bombs (Petty does this in cycles of four), and Madsen is told to find Paxton. Madsen spots him in the crowd and goes after him. [she's good at facial recognition after just seeing a picture!] But, he rolls a bomb at her and they lose him. Madsen gets checked out, then collects some pictures of the shrapnel. [I'm surprised that she wasn't more injured!] Madsen and Soto find out that the shrapnel was a silver star, which soldiers are sometimes buried with, so they realize that Petty much be digging them up. The duo go to a graveyard in the area that has a bunch of Korean war victims, but it doesn't help. This is also where Petty was suspected of taking them in the 1960s, but no evidence was ever found. They realize that Petty "came back" in the mausoleum, since the lock on it was broken from the inside. [oooh... creepy!] Petty had previously stabbed a guard who saw him, and that body is found in one of the mausoleum holds. [I love that Soto is still squeamish!] Madsen calls to update Hauser and he tells her to cross-reference "sandstone" (the color of the paint cans they found) with parks and playgrounds (they found some playground turf in there as well), specifically with "windward." See, Hauser had found some song lyrics with certain words circled, coding where the landmines are. The song has a second verse, so he uses that to try and figure out where the new bombs are. [is it just me or are criminals always doing things in weird patterns like this... using words cut from books as message-readers, figuring out cryptograms, and now reading into lyrics??] We also find out that it was Lucy who originally cracked this code fifty years earlier, and Hauser told her that he'd find the rest of them. Well, Hauser heads to "sunset," which is a beach. He finds Petty and pulls a gun on him. But, he's on a landmine and Petty makes him give over his gun and phone. Madsen thinks it's

CR: Liane Hentscher/FOX

a waste of time for her and Soto to be on a stakeout at some "random" location, but Hauser comes and they catch him. They lock up Petty in the real Alcatraz and Soto talks to him while Madsen looks for clues. Petty says he went to sleep a week ago and woke up in 2012. [hmmm... so the 63s don't seem to have knowledge of where they've been...] Then, Petty starts to talk about a "female headshrink" (whom Soto knows nothing about) when Madsen returns, and the three head for the beach. Hauser is standing on a detonator, so they call in the troops to try and deactivate the bomb. Both Hauser and Madsen know that "twin tree" is the clue from the first set of bombs that was never found, and after Hauser is saved, he shoots Petty in the leg and threatens to kill him. Petty gives away the location of the remaining landmines - a hiking trail that nobody has taken in fifty years. [strange... Petty didn't know that the trail was about to become unusable when he planted the bombs?] Sadly, Madsen's friend, Tanner, is killed by the landmine that Hauser was on. Hauser finds the bombs and brings one to Lucy's bedside. He then brings Lucy to Beauregard and tells him to fix her. [whoa. did he steal her from the hospital?? does she have no next-of-kin?]

In 1960 Alcatraz, we learn that Hauser had a crush on Lucy. Petty was drowned in a bathtub multiple times in an attempt to get him to divulge where the remaining landmines were buried. Lucy disagreed with the practice, and tried to use tea drugged with a mild anesthetic to get him to talk. She also attempts some shock therapy on Petty. [man! they really wanted to get to the bottom of this!] We also learn that Petty's outfit all received silver stars except him, and he wrote dozens of appeal letters, only to never be granted the award. Lucy also talks to Madsen, who wants to know why they keep bleeding him. She tries to find out, but isn't told the truth. [hmmm. I had been assuming that Lucy was part of the bleeding... that maybe it had to do with her "memories theory" or something.]

Fun Fact: Soto is technically a "Civilian Authority." 

Alcatraz: Ray Has Some Secrets

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

How great would it be for the writers to never have to come up with a witty episode title? Here, all of the titles are the names of the 63s. I suppose this might change when multiple criminals show up in the same episode, but it's a non-issue at the moment. Anyway, on to the episode... I think the biggest news is that more people are aware of the "63s return" than the audience originally thought. Madsen's grandfather's friend (who we find out this episode is really her great uncle), Ray, has encountered Tommy already, so he wasn't all that shocked when Hastings returned, too. There was also a vague mention by Hauser that he figured out this was going to happen sixteen years ago... or is that when the first 62 resurfaced? This just adds to the mystery on the show, and I'm still itching to know how Lucy came back! We don't even hear mention of her in the coma this episode, so who knows how long it'll take to clear up that confusion! The episode left me with a lot of questions about Ray... why he went through the trouble to work at Alcatraz, why he hid the relationship from Rebecca, what seeing his brother incarcerated was like... I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Alcatraz "Guy Hastings" (S01E05): Hastings is in a nearly-empty, dilapidated room, which we later learn was his family's home on Alcatraz Island. He removes a baseboard to find a hole with some photographs and a gun inside. He's confronted by a ranger, so he beats him up. [it's amazing how many rangers they must need on the island to keep patrolling the "off-limits" areas all the time!] Then, he kidnaps Ray, claiming that Ray needs to bring him to Tommy Madsen. Ray takes him to the graveyard where Tommy's son is buried, but all that does it help Hastings to realize that there's a blond female descendent of Tommy's - Rebecca Madsen. They head to the old Madsen home, and Ray asks Hastings where he's been all this time, since he hasn't aged. Hastings says that the guards were told that their families were dead and that they were contaminated, so they couldn't leave the island... and, all of a sudden, it wasn't 1963 anymore. [interesting...]

In 1960s Alcatraz, Hastings was a guard with a wife and daughter. He trained new guards, including Ray Archer. On Ray's first day, inmate Tommy Madsen recognizes him and beats him with a lunch tray, requiring Ray to get stitches. [ouch!!] Ray denies knowing Tommy to Hastings, and Hastings makes Ray prove it by beating up Tommy the next day. [wow, that was so brutal!] Ray goes to see Tommy in the hospital wing, though, and Hastings witnesses an exchange.

CR: Liane Hentscher/FOX

Madsen and Ray eat dim sum and she asks him if he thought that her grandfather killed her grandmother. He said that he didn't think so in the beginning, but he eventually believed it. [anyone know which dim sum place she keeps going to? I'm looking for clues because I'd love to find another gem of a restaurant if it's real!] Soto recognizes Hastings by sight. [even more impressive than his usual methods of recognizing the 63s.] Soto suggests that they  check with Hastings' daughter, who was eight years old when he died. They learn that she was told there was a chemical spill, and a box of his things was sent to her and her mother later. [is it reasonable to keep a box of your dad's stuff for fifty years??] Soto borrows the box, and they find medals and photos inside. Just then, Madsen finds out that Ray is missing, so she and Hauser go looking for him. Hauser realizes that Hastings is after Tommy. back at the lab, Madsen and Soto realize that the house in the background of some photos must be where Tommy grew up, so they have Soto's comic book buddy try and reconstruct the full house to figure out where he lived - they have the house number but not the street. After a little research, they determine that Ray and Tommy were BROTHERS! [I was completely unready for this.. the news blew my mind and I had to pause so it could sink in!] Ray changed his name so he could work on Alcatraz! Madsen and Soto head off to Daly City, and Hauser follows them. They find Ray and Hastings, and Madsen has to shoot Hastings in the foot. He doesn't believe that she saw his daughter that day, as he thinks that she died in the chemical spill. So, Hauser drives Hastings by his daughter's house. [what did they do with him? lock him up like the bad guys? make him be a guard again?] Madsen realizes that Hauser asked Ray to join this project previously... Tommy Madsen is awfully important to what's going on. [but why would you need someone with such ties?] 

The episode ends with Tommy walking into Ray's bar, upset that Ray stopped him from being able to continue living in his house forever. Ray has been worried about Rebecca's safety for years, and is tired of covering for Tommy. He also tells him that he'll kill him if he ever sees him again. [this show just keeps getting weirder and weirder!]

Some random things we learned this episode: Hauser has some seismologists in his secret room; Soto was a scout.

Alcatraz: In the Groove

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

So we're in the true-blue series now, no more heavy-exposition episodes to get us going. We know what's going on, who's involved, and we're working on figuring out why these things are happening, along with Doc and Madsen. Yes, there's still plenty of mystery in it (and much of it will likely remain for quite a while), but at this point viewers can kind of see what the show's going to be about and how the procedural will go. The show lost about a million viewers from the first week to the second, then another 700,000 from last week to this week. It's still about 8M though, so not a big problem. It will likely take a while to see how well the rest of the audience will stay, but this doesn't look like Alcatraz's biggest problem, at least for the moment. In my mind, the show has two problems. First, it's a bit gory for what it is. Yes, I realize that there were dangerous criminals in the script, but if I have to look away more than once an episode on a non-medical show, that's a bad sign in my book. Second, I don't know that the answer to how "all of this" is happening is going to be good enough. Yes, I'm pretty intrigued and wrapped up in the mystery for now, but unless they have something mind-blowing in the making, I don't think I'm going to be impressed, and therefore I'll be left rather angry. Plus, I'm rather impatient with non-comical storylines. I look forward to waiting until the very end to find out who the Mother is on How I Met Your Mother, but I needed to know immediately where things were going with various plots on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Bottomline, I'm not sure how long I'm going to stick with this show. You?

Alcatraz "Cal Sweeny" (S01E04): In Alcatraz, Cal Sweeny worked in the laundry room as a front to deliver contraband through clothes. Sweeney isn't much for material possessions, though he does have a tin box which survived a fire from his childhood. In fact, the fire destroyed his memories and family when he was ten years old, so it has quite the sentimental value. Well, the box goes missing, as an Alcatraz employee wants in on the laundry "operation." Sweeney is determined to get it back, though, so he and his laundry pal work their way into a fancy party by being servers. The warden, doctor, Lucy, and others are all there, and Lucy talks about how the idea that removing traumatic memories could rehabilitate the inmates. [whoa. creepy. but very 60s.] Sweeny corners the guy at the party, demanding his box back, most of the contents, and 50% of his business. But, the guy uses a scalpel to severely injure Sweeny, who is told he'll get thirty days in solitary confinement for doing this. [super sucks!] His compatriot did manage to get back the tin box for him, but claims he'll run everything much better than Sweeny did, and that everyone will forget all about Sweeny. Uber-upset, Sweeny stamps on his box just before he's brought to solitary. The protege, on the other hand, is brought to a secret area of a damp floor, where multiple keys are used to open a very large door - the warden and the protege enter, but we learn nothing about what's inside. [spooky.]

In present-day San Francisco, Cal Sweeny goes to use his safety deposit box... just to make out with the teller in private. [I really have a difficult time understanding people who abuse their privileges like this!] He tranquilizes her after confirming that the security cameras are off. [!!] Then, he begins using a lock-bypass thing to pull certain boxes, removing all of the contents. Hitting just the boxes but not the vault immediately tips off Doc as to Cal Sweeny being the culprit. [all of the instant "it's ___" is getting old] They interview the teller, then decide to talk to the owners of the "hit" safety deposit boxes about what was in the boxes (to then put out a call to the pawn shops in the area). But, Sweeny is already doing that, claiming that he works at the bank and he's filling out insurance claims along. He's out to figure out who owned a sapphire necklace, and how that person met their spouse. [we never find out why he was interested in this information, which I found irritating.] Sweeny kills him, which Madsen and Doc find out when they go to visit, arriving at the same time as the guy's wife.

Madsen and Doc work on the case back at Alcatraz, and find that Sweeny's box has very little in it - just the empty tin box. [...I thought he smashed it?] Then, when looking at videos from the banks, Madsen realizes that the tellers were both given the same flowers, so they go to the floral shop and ask for the order history. [things like this - how does anyone miss it??] The same arrangement also went to a third teller, so they head to that bank, where Sweeny is already in the process of removing safety deposit bank items. He clocks a guard on his way out, but the police have already arrived (he had failed to tranquilize the teller properly and she was able to trigger an alarm before he just knocked her out), so he proceeds to hold everyone hostage. [interesting bank robbery we have here...] Madsen calls Hauser, who shows up but doesn't have a lot of ideas.

CR: Liane Hentscher/FOX

So, Madsen has Doc help her come up with a plan - she can get into the bank by crawling through the air conditioning vents of the adjacent buildings. Just as Sweeny is about to kill a teller, he hears a vent grate fall, and he finds Madsen, unarmed. She tells him that she knows who he is, and that she'll get him out. She has him put on a SWAT uniform, and after the real SWAT team enters the building when gunshots are heard, he escorts her out like the other team members are with other hostages. They take off in her squad car, with Soto following in a mustang with Hauser. We learn that Soto hasn't driven since he was eleven (he also doesn't like dim sum, for the record). Madsen crashes the car in order to knock out Sweeny, who wasn't wearing a seatbelt. [nice.]

Sweeney had a pouch from one of the most recent safety deposit boxes, which contained a key. He didn't know what was in the pouch - he was just told to take it. Hauser knows about it, and Madsen wants in on the secret... too bad Hauser tricks her into handing it over without revealing the truth. Hauser takes the key to some scientists, who do some research - while it looks just like the other key, they're different!

Last, a small bit we learned about Doc's background and why he now works in a comic book shop, despite the fact that he has two doctorates... The academic life pleased his parents, but he got black-listed from the academic community after showcasing a crime theory based on Gotham City. [hmmm. hope this comes into play again!]

News Roundup: Lots of Picked-Up Pilots

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Renewals, Cancellations, & Scheduling:
HBO's Treme won't air season three until the fall, even though the previous seasons began in April.

FOX's Touch will launch in more than 100 countries (including Canada, the UK, Germany, Israel, and Russia) on March 19th.

Tonight on TLC, Sorority Girls premieres at 9pm ET/PT. The show will be about five Sorority Sisters who attempt to establish a sorority in Britain, a country that doesn't have the 200+ year history of these fraternal groups.

Bravo's Shahs of Sunset begins on Sunday, March 11th. It's a documentary series that looks at the lives of six thirty-something Persian-Americans living in Los Angeles.

History has a new fishing show coming February 9th: Mudcats, where some folks in Oklahoma catch giant catfish with their hands.

CBS will continue hosting the Academy of Country Music Awards through 2021.

HBO's Eastbound & Down will be back on Sunday, February 19th at 10pm ET/PT.

If you don't want to watch the Super Bowl, ABCFamily is going to air the five Bring It On films, beginning at 9am. Amusingly, they're not showing them in order.

HBO's Luck has already been renewed... mere days after its premiere.

It's a good thing that America's Most Wanted got back on the air after all... four fugitives were put behind bars in one week!


Cast & Plot Updates:
Lea Michele will be a guest mentor on the first episode of the second season of The Glee Project, which airs this summer on Oxygen.

Kristin Chenoweth will appear in a May episode of Hot in Cleveland.

Amber from 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom has struck a plea deal in response to her latest drug arrest - she'll complete a court-mandated drug rehabilitation program instead of going to jail for five years. She plead guilty to one count of "possession of a controlled substance" and one count of "probation violation." The hearing will be February 6th.

Leah from 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom 2 had a miscarriage.

Steve Jones will not be hosting The X-Factor anymore.

Shows in Development & Other Fun Stuff:
If you want to be in Los Angeles for the Simpsons 500th Episode Party (Monday, February 13th), you can enter until 5:59pm PT on Monday, February 6th over here.

Ben Stiller and Alan Alda may star in a new HBO comedy called All Talk, which is planned to be "politically, religiously, culturally, intellectually and sexually irreverent." The show will focus on the life of a Jewish family in Washington, DC.

The CW picked up three pilots - a "time-travel musical" called Joey Dakota, a comedy set in a New England summer resort called Shelter, and a futuristic "Hunger Games meets The Bachelor" called The Selection.

NBC bought TEN pilots last week, eight of which were comedies.

ABC has ordered a pilot based on Beauty and the Beast, despite the fact that the CW has already done the same.

I'd be surprised if you hadn't heard this one yet, but here ya go - Pat Sajak admitted to hosting the show after having a few drinks ("two or three or six") years ago.

Netflix is no longer marketing the DVD-by-mail part of its service, was they "expect DVD subscribers to decline each quarter forever," which is sad, since most brick-and-mortar video rentals are gone now. They also won't be adding video games like they had once intended.

If you're a fan of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, which runs on The Hub, get excited - you will be able to vote for the episodes for a mare-a-thon which will run on Saturday, February 11th and Tuesday, February 14th. Go vote!

As one might expect, visitors to Alcatraz Island are already creeping off the main paths to look for secret rooms. The island has posted signs, reminding tourists that Alcatraz is a fictional television show.

Can't get enough of Dearborn, Michigan after watching All-American Muslim? Well, Lifetime is coming up with ANOTHER sequel to Dance Moms... Ice Moms, which will have six episodes to start.

President Obama is a big fan of Showtime's Homeland, as is Bill Clinton and Diane Sawyer

CBS picked up three drama pilots: a period show, a PI show (Applebaum), and a character-driven procedural (Quean). They also ordered a pilot for a sitcom, written by Louis C. K. and Spike Feresten, who wrote Boomtown together ten years ago.

USA is working on The Moment, which is a nine-episode original reality series where football star Kurt Warner gives people a "second chance at reclaiming the career dreams that they put on hold when their lives took an unexpected turn." Each week, someone will have the shot to pick-up an old career where they left off, thanks to great mentors and opportunities. The someones are secretly nominated by loved ones. [USA Network Press Release]

USA picked up Political Animals, a six-hour drama series, to air this summer. It looks like it'll focus on a fictional former first family. Yep, try saying that five times fast!

USA will also be calling this February "Characters Unite Month" for the second year in a row. The goal is to combat prejudice and discrimination, which are problems everywhere. For examples of what they're doing, read here.

TLC is developing Preacher Wives, to be a "candid look into the holy worlds of outspoken ladies who work to ensure that their churches run as smooth as Southern-churned butter."

ABC is turning Scruples, Judith Krantz's 1978 best-selling novel into a one-hour drama.

The city of Hoboken will not allow Jersey Shore to film a spin-off there.

Alcatraz: To Be an Expert

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

So between last week and this week, I got to thinking. For Doc Soto, this is a really cool thing. He was working in his comic book shop and creating stories of his own, but then this giant opportunity comes along to put his knowledge into practice. He's written four books on a niche subject (Alcatraz), so he's uniquely qualified to serve as a historian of sorts. And, as pointed out in this episode, an expert spends 10,000 hours on a subject, and Doc has likely spent twice that on studying Alcatraz. Well, if you were offered the opportunity to serve as an "expert" on something, what would it be for? Why would you be called into such a service? For me, I'm not sure. The most likely answer is The Rocky Horror Show, as that's what my Master's thesis was about. But I haven't gone to the event a hundred or a thousand times like some people have, so I am not the most knowledgeable person regarding the latest in shout-backs and the like. But, at the same time, perhaps I have a unique understanding of the script, having spent about 30 pages analyzing various things about it. And of the history behind the show's various productions, which took up another large chunk of the paper. And then there's the evolution of the extra-textual material, probably my favorite part of my Rocky Horror studies. Oh, and that whole third of the project that was devoted to the process of producing the show and analyzing audience members' reactions to it. I didn't hit 10,000 hours (which is the equivalent of spending 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 5 years), but I can't think of anything else that would rival the amount of time I spent studying Rocky Horror. What have you spent the most time studying? 

Alcatraz "Kit Nelson" (S01E03): In Walnut Creek (CA), a guy carries a flower and uses a key to enter a home. He turns off a lamp, then goes upstairs and wakes a sleeping child, abducting him. [creepy topic for such an early episode, no? or is that where we're going with this show?] The next day, the guy (Kit Nelson) takes the kid (Dylan) fishing, using poles that he stole from a hardware store. They rent a boat, and Kit soon has both of them in the water. He asks Dylan to hold him underwater as long as possible, which he does reluctantly. However, then they switch positions, but we don't see it. [thank goodness. I think that this would have freaked me out!] They then head to the movies, where the guy makes the kid eat popcorn. They go to have pie, and we find out that Kit takes his victims to do things that his brother used to like to do. Then, they head to a bomb shelter to play checkers. Dylan asks to go home, and soon takes off a shoe, throws it at a lightbulb, climbs up the hatch, and makes a run for it.

Now that you know the crime and what the criminal does, let's look at his past. In 1960, there was a a fight in the Alcatraz recreation yard. Kit is beat up because the other inmates don't like that he beat up kids. [I had never thought about how other inmates might dislike you because of why you're locked up. yeah, perverts don't bode well for most!] The doctor offers Kit a cigarette, but he doesn't take it. He's then abused a bit by the doctor. When his father comes to visit, he says that his mother died and left a dried chrysanthemum. But, before she passed, she told his dad that Kit killed his brother when they were children, and she had covered it up by saying that the boy died of scarlet fever. [I wonder if this show is just going to end up being too much for me, emotionally...] Kit is brought to solitary confinement, where the warden talks to him by matchlight, demanding to know what Kit did to his brother. [well this doesn't seem legal...] He's threatened that he'll have to stay in solitary if he doesn't admit what he did to his brother, so he comes clean, saying that he strangled his brother, that he liked it, and that he knew he had to do it again. The flowers were a favorite of his mother and brother, and that's why it became what he left with the bodies. The warden leaves Kit in solitary anyway. [the whole idea of being in a dark room 24/7 disturbs me. maybe that's part of the reason I take issue with a show half-set in a prison!]

Now, let's look at how our heroes manage to catch their culprit. We see Doc drawing a comic book about his experiences when he hears about the 11-year-old missing boy on a police scanner. He grabs a file and runs out to bring it to Madsen, who is with Hauser, checking on the state of Lucy. This criminal's pattern is to kidnap a boy on a Friday night, then return his body on Sunday night. Madsen and Doc go the house of the missing boy and show the mother and brother a photo of Kit Nelson, whom they recognize as a guy from the hardware store. They go to the hardware store, where they find out that a uniform was stolen along with the fishing poles, so they ask where someone would go fishing around there. [this is starting off like a wild goose chase, no?] When they reach the Lafayette recreation area, Kit and Dylan are already gone, so they head back to the boy's house. They ask his mother about what Dylan liked to do, but they don't match up with what the duo is doing. Doc is working on cracking the pattern when they find out that Hauser canceled the Amber Alert on Dylan. It seems that Hauser is more interested in catching the criminal than keeping the kid alive, and if there are no cops around the house, they'll just grab him when he goes to return the body on Sunday. Doc, of course, is upset that the boy will be dead by then, and heads off to try the cherry pie at every diner in town. [he apparently either remembered that Kit liked pie or that it was a link in the other old cases or something.] Hauser isn't sure that Doc is needed, but Madsen convinces him that Doc can make more out of the clues than they can.

Cr: Liane Hentscher/FOX

Well, by the fifth diner, Doc finds Kit and Dylan, and tries to stall them while Madsen is en route. It's clear that he doesn't know what he's doing, however, and by the time Madsen arrives, Kit pulls a gun and threatens to kill the boy, only letting up when Madsen and Doc are handcuffed to a dumpster, without a gun, keys, or a phone. Back at Alcatraz, Doc goes through the boxes and finds that Kit had some really expensive cigarettes... they find his commissary account and look up where the money came from - he used to build bomb shelters, and that's where he hides with the kids. [time out. I just want to say that Alcatraz is a PAIN to get to, and Walnut Creek is nowhere near there. We're talking about a 40-minute drive PLUS a ferry ride. I realize that they can't set all of the crimes in San Francisco, but I think that this is going to become a problem sooner than later.] They head to the only bomb shelter in Walnut Creek and arrive to hear the boy screaming in the woods. They find him and Hauser shoots the assailant, who, by then, had caught up to the boy.

So, that's the story in this episode. But, before we leave it, let's look at a few other things. For instance, Hauser apparently knows more about Doc's background than Madsen. Hauser confronts Doc about having "arrested development" (when you face a trauma as a child and get caught up in being that age, not growing past it), but he needs to move beyond being eleven years old if he's going to be helpful on this team, regardless of the point that he is an "extreme expert" on Alcatraz. Doc agrees, but isn't able to muster up the courage to explain the situation to Madsen. [well, I'm dying to know!] He does, however, tell a little of the story to Dylan when he brings him three issues of a comic that the boy was missing from his collection: when he was eleven, he was kidnapped, and he got away. He goes on to say that, "once you know you can do that, it sort of gives you a superpower." [...and now we know why he is making a living being a comic book writer. very interesting!] 

But that's not even the most messed up part. Hauser brought Kit's body to his secret underground Alcatraz replica, where THE DOCTOR FROM THE ORIGINAL ALCATRAZ is working! [super-mega-creepy! ahhhhh!]

NEW SHOW: Alcatraz

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Surprised that we're covering this new drama? We've mentioned a few things about the show here and there, but we never really went over what our plans were for the mid-season programming this Spring. Alcatraz is one of the few that we've earmarked for interest, others being GCB and Smash, and *possibly* The River. I've never been a big fan of police shows, so I'm not sure how long Alcatraz will last for me, but I do know that the first two episodes were pretty intriguing. I wasn't into Lost, so I have no big background with Jorge Garcia like some people do (in fact, looking at his IMDB resume, I don't even remember him on Becker, and I had already forgotten he was on last year's failed Mr. Sunshine). But, I really liked him as "Doc" Soto, a comic-book writer who has written no fewer than four books on Alcatraz. The girl who plays Madsen? Not as enticing. Parminder Nagra? Always a favorite. Sam Neill? Other than Jurassic Park, not too big a fan of his. But I'm not a big believer in a cast necessarily "making" a show, so let's not focus on that too much. When it comes down to it, both my husband and I wondered if a film wasn't a better outlet for what's going on here. Though, it seems to fit that medium in the same way that Terra Nova would have been suited for it... so maybe things are just changing. Not that we've seen a renewal for Terra Nova yet, but still. I have no reason to drop this show at this point, as I'm crazyinterested in what is going to come next and the reason for the "disappearances" in the first place!

Alcatraz "Pilot" (S01E01): The opening suggests that, on March 20th, 1963, instead of the inmates being transferred off the island, they just disappeared. 302 men - inmates and guards alike, gone. This was covered up by faking transfer papers, and, later, death certificates, apparently. On that fateful night, two police officers arrives at Alcatraz but no guards met them, so they're on high alert. They find the prison empty, and we learn that the younger of those policemen was Hauser, who now runs a secret division of the FBI. [okay. quite the interesting premise.]

In present-day, a little girl hears a sound while touring the antiquated penitentiary and wanders off to explore, coming across a guy sleeping in a cell. [will all of the missing folks come back inside Alcatraz?] The guy begins to meander about the island, and he even mysteriously has a ferry ticket in his pocket, as well as some money and a key. [how exactly did all of that work?] He thumbs through someone's book to see himself, Jack Sylvane, listed as a prisoner, booked in 1956. Flashback to his stay in 1960: his cell is ransacked, a screwdriver is found (he says it isn't his), and he's denied rights to see his visitors that day. He is put into solitary confinement and later was bled for no apparent reason. [super weird. I wonder how this is going to factor into the future of this drama...] The following month, when he sees his wife at visitors' day, she asks him for a divorce.

A female cop in San Francisco, Madsen, lost her partner in pursuit of a criminal three months ago, and has not had a partner since then. She finds something wrong with each potential pairing that is suggested. [I probably would, too, if my original partner was a great match!] She's called to go to the scene of a homicide, but the feds soon tell her to back off. She steals a photograph with a damaged frame and finds that it has Jack Sylvane's fingerprints on it. [did they not track people often by fingerprints in the 60s? Otherwise, shouldn't the guy have known better?] The victim was a Deputy Warden of Alcatraz, so after she puts two and two together, something doesn't add up. She goes to Diego Soto, an expert on the prison. He tells her that Sylvane robbed a grocery store that sold stamps, making it a federal crime. She tells him that Tiller was killed the night before and Sylvane's prints were at the scene, but Soto says it's not possible, as Sylvane has been dead for thirty years.

Madsen goes to talk to a family friend, who was once a guard at Alcatraz. [and a friend of her grandfather's, apparently.] He tells her to walk away from the case, as it isn't her jurisdiction. [smart guy. but I bet he knows she won't listen to him...] Soto brings her Sylvane's death certificate, but they plot to sneak around The Rock the next day. They try to get to the barracks where the guards lived with their families, since Soto knows that there are files off-limits there. Being a police officer, she picks the lock and they start going through stuff. The lights suddenly go out and a can of gas goes off. When they wakes up, they're with the feds - Hauser and his assistant, Lucy, work in a bat cave of sorts UNDERNEATH Alcatraz. They soon admit that Sylvane's transfer and death certificate are fakes. [was the gas necessary? And did Hauser and Lucy really move those bodies on their own?]

Meanwhile, Sylvane is running loose, and goes to a gym to find the locker that is opened with the key he's carrying. There's a gun inside, and Sylvane roughs up the kid working there. The kid at identified Sylvane for the agents and passed on the license plate number of the cab he took. [well done, kid!] Sylvane kills two cops and goes after a guy named Flynn, asking for a black bag in a safe, which contains a key... then he shoots Flynn. Later, he goes after his brother, who married his late wife. [this is how awful his wife was... she asked for a divorce so that she could MARRY HER HUSBAND'S BROTHER.] The agents are in hot pursuit by now, but when they arrive Sylvane has already taken his brother to their wife's gravesite. Madsen asks him to put down his gun, and he says that he was just doing what he was told, but he doesn't reveal who gave him those instructions. [how strange...] He goes to shoot her so that she'll have to shoot him, but another agent beats her to it. [this whole scene was a bit overly suspenseful, don't you think?] He's removed by Hauser, who pretty much tells Madsen that her work is done, and that Sylvane got a new identity so he can serve a life sentence. When Madsen asks about Alan, she's just told that he won't be a problem. However, there's more to it than that... we see Hauser put Sylvane in a hidden prison that looks just like Alcatraz. [okay. super creepy. really??]

CR: James Dittiger/FOX

Lucy and Hauser tell Madsen that they knew the 256 prisoners and 46 guards that disappeared were going to come back, and that they've been waiting a long time for it to happen. [but they don't say more than that? Madsen and Soto don't ask for more information??] Madsen and Soto are brought into a room filled with the photos of the folks who will reappear. In this room, Madsen learns that grandfather wasn't a guard, he was an inmate... and he was the guy who killed her partner three months earlier. [wow. talk about a double shocker!] Howser has Madsen transferred, though he tells her that she has to keep quiet... this is extremely secret work. [no sh!t, Sherlock!] She requests Soto be her partner, who accepts and is accepted by Hauser, who now doesn't have to kill the guy. [eek!] Their mission: find all of the missing folks, as well as whoever took them in 1963. [this should keep them employed for quite a while!]

Alcatraz "Ernest Cobb" (S01E02): Ernest Cobb was a serial killer who requested to be moved to Alcatraz so that he could enjoy a private cell. [just like the head warden, I was amused by this request.] He then requested to be in solitary confinement, to abstain from yard visits, etc. but his request is denied, which makes him freak out. He eventually disobeys orders to get thrown into solitary, but the head Warden is onto him, so he makes him share a cell with a talkative fellow that that the situation is a true prison for him. [that SUCKS!!] Cobb spent more time than any other inmate in solitary confinement while at Alcatraz. [and it was by choice. how interesting!] Eventually something else must have happened, though, as he wound up in a straight jacket, and Lucy was his doctor!! [we don't know who all knows this at this point, but I assume Hauser is in the loop on it.]

Lucy asks Sylvane if he knows Cobb, but doesn't learn much. [so already-captured former prisoners will be recurring on the show for questioning?] Sylvane says that he was in his cell 50 years ago, but something happened. She asks him about the key he was found with... but he doesn't know what it opens nor who asked him to get it. This whole time, his hands are on some sort of lighting device, which is a type of lie-detector. [interesting. Is this a futuristic device or am I just not aware of such technology?]

In present day, Cobb has a picnic alone in San Francisco. He uses a scope to look at people, then shoots three from a great distance. Seeing a couple dead crows lets Soto know immediately who the marksman was, and, since Soto knew what kind of gun Cobb preferred, they are able to figure out the range rather quickly. [I love the character of Soto. so smart!] Madsen, who has to remind Soto not to let his emotions cloud his judgment, leads her partner up a hill, where she finds a casing, despite Soto's warning that Cobb was kinda OCD. [I wonder about the OCD comment. That wasn't too necessary this episode, I didn't feel. was it to set up something that'll happen later?] Lucy, Madsen, and Soto go to a specialty gun store to show a worker a picture of Cobb. [why did Hauser send Lucy on this errand?] Cobb used a prepaid credit card with no name or address, and had a hotel key on him. They track down the hotel and go to the room, but Cobb isn't there. [wow! what a run-down place!] Instead, he's across the road, and shoots through the window to wound Lucy in the heart, who is taken by ambulance to St. Mary's and is later in a coma. Hauser goes to Sylvane to ask if Lucy was a target, but he doesn't know. [hmmmm.... so I guess Hauser doesn't know that Lucy was a doctor at Alcatraz?]

Madsen notices that there's always a girl who looks 15- or 16-years-old in each cluster of shootings, so she's trying to figure out why. [are we to believe that nobody ever picked up on this before? because that seems highly unlikely...] Soto finds a letter addressed to Cobb that he never received... when he went to meet his mother (he grew up in an orphanage), she slammed the door in his face, but he saw she had a daughter slightly younger than him, hence his hatred of girls that age. [okay. I get it. a teeny bit of a stretch, but okay.] Madsen recreates Cobb's cell, then spends all night trying to piece things together. Eventually she realizes that he had made a scope to watch the city. [resourceful guy!] Soto and Madsen compare the area of San Francisco that Cobb used to watch with a current map to locate two buildings that would have a high enough vantage point to match a second round of shootings that is going on. Hauser and Madsen find Cobb, and although Madsen is nice to him, Howser shoots him in the hand, to avenge Lucy. [gross.]

A final note: In his books, there's not much about Tommy Madsen, and Soto says that's because he couldn't find much about him. [hmm. this is obviously going to resurface again...]