Franklin & Bash "Good Lovin'": AKA: Adjusting to the New Season

 So this week's  episode brought the return of Coleen Bash, played by the lovely Jane Seymour. This time she was being charged with prostitution. Yup that's right Peter has to defend his mother's prostitution charge, awkward. Turns out, after her nursery failed, Coleen found a new occupation, that of a sex surrogate. She is arrested by an undercover cop, and it soon becomes clear that Coleen isn't the intended target of this malicious prosecution.

I still don't like Heather Locklear's character, she just feels flat and forced, like oh look, here's this season's bitchy hot chick. They did try to make her a bit more likable, by having her open up slightly to Coleen, however the same sex kiss that ensued sorta set her back to simple "the new hot chick" status. I will say however the kiss was worth having since Jared had a field day with it.

I did really enjoy Rhea Seehorn as DA Ellen Swatello. Her chemistry with Breckin Meyer was fantastic, and I was kind of disappointed that they seemed to wrap up her storyline. It was nice to see Franklin with a love interest, and a comical  one at that. Sure they've hooked him up with other females on the show before, but none who seemed an even match for his snark. I hope they decided to bring her back at some point during the season.

I'm a little disappointed that they don't seem to let Karp do anything this season. I mean sure he's got some screen time, but since he's been on his hardcore Judgeship hunt, he hasn't had case. I'd much rather see him interacting with someone other than Rachel, and random judges.

Watching this week's show reminded me of how much I love these characters. The interaction between Peter and Jared is brilliant, the perfect mix of ragging on each other and genuine platonic love, which is nice to see. A fabulous example of bromance at its finest, while I'm still adjusting to  the changes this season has brought about, I'm excited to see where they are headed.

Franklin & Bash "Coffee and Cream" AND "Dead and Alive": AKA: The Return of Zack & Travis

Last night marked the season premier of everyone's favorite TNT show, Franklin & Bash, and as an extra treat, we got not one but two new episodes.

The boys are pretty much up to their old tricks except there have been some significant changes made to the show. Most notably, Hanna is gone. Now it's no secret I have never been the biggest Hannah fan. I always felt like they had no idea how to write her. She was too wishy-washy, one week she would hate Franklin and Bash for no real reason and be hell bent on destroying them, and the next week she would decide that they were really good guys at heart and help them out on a case. Sometimes she and Karp would get along, and sometimes they would hate each other over their failed romantic history, which never felt real to begin with. Hanna just never felt like a fully formed character to me. She had the potential to be such a great strong female presence on the show, and never came close to achieving it. 

To fill the void left by Hanna's departure,  the PTB* have brought in Heather Locklear to play Rachel King, a lawyer Infeld has brought on as a partner, who is basically being set up to wreak havoc upon Franklin and Bash. Major props should be given to Heather Locklear for looking so amazing. I know it is a shallow way to begin talking about her/her character, but the entertainment industry is often times a shallow/superficial world, so let's give credit when deserved. Seriously though, she looks fantastic.  That being said, I, at least this far, can't stand her character. I'm pretty sure that is the point, but she seems to have come on simply to be the bitch. Which I suppose was the original intent for Hanna's character. Still, I know we are only two episodes in, but right now it just feels like the PTBs decided "We need someone to be a bitch to the boys…Oh, I know let's get Heather Locklear, she's great at being a bitch on screen." I'm hoping that at some point during the season they'll expand her character. 

Infeld, appears to have become even more eccentric than before after an incident that occurred on his most recent trip to Africa. Giving away prized possessions, hiring Rachel and giving her a lot of power in the firm very quickly, almost marring a woman to get her her green card, all of which has given the boys and Karp reason to speculate and worry. 

Karp is still on his quest for eventual judgeship, and now Rachel has offered to help. So instead of the more familiar two case episode of season one, we got one case each episode, and Karp was left alone to deal with attending to his eventual campaign and the madcap wedding plans of his uncle. 

Pindar manages to burn down The Cave, and the gang has now moved into Infeld's beach house, Peter's aquired a new love interest, Charlie, a pretty blonde Australian physical therapist who lives next door.

Ok let's be honest, the PTB moved the boys to a beach house in an excuse to have the boys shirtless more often. No complaints on that, as Augustus Waters so perfectly put it, "I enjoy looking at beautiful people, and I decided awhile ago not to deny myself the simpler pleasures of existence." (And that was this week's gentile reminder that if you haven't yet read The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, you are missing out).

All and all not a bad start to season three, and I'm curious to see how the changes made will effect the dynamics of the show.


*PTB- Always stands for "Powers That Be"

Castle: "Murder He Wrote": AKA: Hilarity Ensues

Last Monday was easily my favorite episode in a long time. It was old school bubbly fun Castle. Don't get me wrong, I've always loved and enjoyed the show, but I would be lying if I said that it hasn't evolved more toward the drama side of dramedy in the past few seasons. Not a bad thing by any means, but sometimes, especially since TNT has started airing the earlier seasons, I miss the silly ridiculous banter side to the show. Last night old school Castle was back in full force.

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD

First of all I died when Castle called the boys about the murder and they made a Murder She Wrote joke. Sure the joke itself was funny, but made even more so by my own experience. Way back in the day, Castle's premier date actually, I still lived at home. My dad had come home that night and asked if I'd watch this new show with him that was starting that night. He told me it was about a writer who teams up with the police to solve crimes. "Basically," he said, "It seems like it's going to be like Murder She Wrote but with a guy." Having had had that conversation before the very first episode, the Murder She Wrote joke was probably way funnier to me than others.

While discussing the show this weekend, yup this is how we do, I mentioned how I really hoped that Ryan would be the first of the crew to uncover the truth about Caskett. Think about it, him knowing and not being able to tell anyone is gonna be hilarious. In my mind it is the equivalent of Joey being the first to know about Monica and Chandler.

The way Ryan found out was perfect too. We rarely get to see Ryan in an interrogation setting, and even when we do, he more often than not is playing "good cop" to Esposito's "bad cop", so it was a real treat to see him go all hard ass on someone. Especially when you see that the transition didn't occur until he started hounding the suspect for info on Castle's "girlfriend". His look of smug satisfaction as he talked to Castle was beyond perfect, like the cat who ate the canary. Though I can't help but worry about how Esposito is gonna take it when he finds out Ryan has been holding out on this info. I hate when the boys fight. Seriously, last year's season finally left me beyond upset that they weren't speaking, and don't even get me started about the two of them beating the crap out of each other at the end of season three.

All and all it was a fantastically fun episode. It's nice to see the Castle PTB bringing the funny back.

FRANKLIN & BASH RETURNS: AKA: I'm So Excited!

Ok, so I know I'm in the middle of going through all the networks' new shows, but I find it imperative to remind you all that tomorrow TUESDAY, JUNE 5TH, 2012 at 10PM ON TNT is the return of Franklin & Bash!!!!!

 

Yes, that's right Zack Morris and Travis Birkenstock are all grown up and lawyers, with a man cave and everything. I, for one, can not wait for some new misadventures.

It's the Most Wonderful TIme of the Year

Sorry for being MIA lately, my fabulous brother was doing some updates on my new laptop, and as I was off from work I was sans a way of updating. Plus the holidays are always a busy time. The Boy can attest to the fact that the entire month of December, our kitchen turns into a bakery.

It was a very pop culture Christmas this year, thanks to some brilliantly crafty and slightly sneaky friends. Major props go to my friend Leslie who not only cross stiched the entire Firefly cast (four times no less), but also managed to somehow sneak away at NYCC to get the lovely Jewel Staite  sign & personalize them.

Seriously how clutch is that?

Anyways, I've decided that this post, which will probibly be my last of 2011, is the perfect time for a Best Of list, are you guys tired of them yet? So here are some of my favorite pop culture things of 2011.

• Awkward - This was by far my favorite new show of the year. I knew the moment I read the pilot that I was going to like the show, despite it being on MTV. After the first episode I was hooked, even in all it's insanity, the show is still so real. It brings me back to when I was in high school, but in the good way. I am so excited that a second season is on the way and I can't wait to see where the characters are headed.

• The Resurgence of Mark Paul Gosslaar - 2011 saw the resurgence of one of my favorite childhood actors. I practically jumped for joy when I learned that Mark Paul Gosslaar and Breckin Meyers were doing a show together. I mean seriously what more could a girl raised on Saved By the Bell and Clueless want? The show itself is hysterical, better than I had expected. But things got even better, with both the TNT tv movie Hide, and ABC Family's 12 Dates of Christmas, it felt as though MPG was EVERYWHERE and that just made life better.

• Teemagnet.com - This has to be my new favorite website. Seriously all the best geeky tshirts on display. It's my homepage...it is why I am poor.

• Revenge - I fully admit to not really knowing how the show was going to work, I mean it sounded more like an awesome movie than a tv show, but after watching the first three eps I was hooked. I'm not generally a fan of "soapy" shows but Revenge is pure, gooey, guilty pleasure tv. Madeline Stowe is amazing and Ashley Madekwe is my fashion icon.

• Ring My Bell - Speaking of the lovely Ashley Madekwe, her fashion blog, Ring My Bell is my  newest obsession. This woman is fashion icon, she has a fabulous sense of style and is an all around amazing person. 

• The Return of the Muppets -  2011 also saw the return of the Muppets to the lime light, and I couldn't be more excited about it. Having always been a Muppet fan the fact that they were getting a new movie made me giddy, add in the fact that Jason Segel wrote and stared in it and I was in HEAVEN.  

• Pop Culture Art - So one of the greatest things about going to NYCC this year was getting to go through artist alley and seeing all the amazing pop culture inspired prints. Some of my favorites include, Katie Cook, Brian Kong, Scott Ethan Ambruson and Laurie B.

• American Horror Story - One of the most frustrating/thought provoking shows which I was sucked into this year. While not as scary as I had initially thought, it definitely kept me on my toes, and filled with emotions and tons of questions. While I didn't always love what went on with the story lines, and more often than not screamed in frustration over loose ends, but it was still a wild ride.

There you have it, some of the awesome pop culture stuff of 2011.

Franklin & Bash "Go Tell it on the Mountain": AKA: Saying Goodbye...

Last night I heard a phrase that made me sadder than I have in a long time, regarding pop culture at least, "Look for all new episodes of Franklin & Bash next summer."

NEXT SUMMER?!? I was perfectly aware that last night was their season finale, but when you put it that was it just seems so far away. It left me with a void in my life, whatever will I do till then? How will I survive a full year with out the plucky antics of Franklin & Bash, or more importantly without a weekly dose of Zack and Travis? Honestly, is there a support group for this kinda thing? Ok, enough mellow dramatics, on to the show.

So as we were shown in last week's teaser, Stanton is arrested for the murder of his best friend Gibson Hawk, who "disappeared" on a summit climb of Mt. McKinley.

Peter and Bash are meeting with Ultimo, a wrestler of a luchador league and his daughter, Amelia about a case. Jarred obviously has a thing for Amelia.  The owners of the league claim Ultimo is too old and they want him to throw a fight and be damasked on television. He refuses, claiming the mask and the character are part of who he is.

The boys are summoned to the office, where they meet New York partner Brett Cayman, who informs them all that Stanton is in jail for murder. Of course, Peter and Jarred are on the case, with the addition of Karp.

Thankfully everything gets resolved, because honestly, if I had to wait a whole year to find out what happens I would have been pissed. So here we have it the first ever season finally of Franklin & Bash. The show is still silly irreverent, innuendo laced fun. The fact that they've done a complete 180 on Karp and the boys' relationship was evident in this final episode more than others. Peter was quick to defend Karp's skill to the evil Brett (who has some ulterior motives for helping out), and Karp has no complaints as to Peter and Jarred  handling his uncle's case.

Hanna was finally back this week, and she and Infield had a heartwarming chat near the end of the episode, about how he wants her to be his successor, if and when he decides to step down.  Even though she asked him to explain why, I'm not really sure the reason, but you know good for Hanna.

Jarred finally got some action, huzzah! I mean we got a taste of him getting it on with Hanna, but that was in the first episode, Peter has gotten far more loving in that time. Also Jarred getting action employs short girls!!! As a short girl myself this makes me giddy.

The casting over this season has been spectacular, and last night was no exception. Tricia Helfer was awesome as power hungry Brett, and Danny Trejo as the Spanish wrestler made my night. I may or may have cried out "Predator Meat!" at the sight of him...only those of you who have seen Predators will fully understand that.

Over the past few months the show has become one of my favorites. Definitely classified as must see for me. The chemistry and timing is perfect, and with all the doom and gloom on tv lately, don't get me wrong I adore shows like NCIS and Criminal Minds, but it's nice to have a silly fun show you can laugh at on the air. Plus any show that allows us to see grown up versions of Zack and Travis is fantastic in my book.

Honestly I can not wait til it returns....

Karp and Infield

Franklin & Bash "Bachelor Party": AKA: Zack, Travis AND Dawson, My Little '90's Pop Culture Lovin' Heart Be Still

Last night was the episode we'd all been waiting for, or at least I was, the episode guest starring the one and only Dawson Leery...er, I mean James Van Der Beek. As skillfully predicted, by moi, ok, ok it was pretty obvious, he played Janie's fiance, Nathan.

Case One: Nathan, has been arrested for solicitation, during his bachelor party, and has come to Peter for representation. In order to prove he is fully over Peter agrees to take the case.

Case Two: Jarred takes on a wrongful termination case of a teacher from his old high school. Apparently the guy she met over the summer, took her for drinks and then ended up sleeping with her, was in her class that fall. Ooops.

Also, as a couple of  side stories, Karp was being interviewed by a law magazine and the body of Infield's old law partner was fount on Mount Kilimanjaro.

The question, and the really the reason to watch, was not to find out whether or not they'd win their cases, but seeing how it all played out. In case any of you are wondering, yes they did win.

Although he never really went away, I feel like James Van Der Beek has just recently launched a come back. Mostly because as of late he's been popping up in things I actually pay attention to. First on Mercy, then Ke$ha's Blow video, don't ask..., taking over the role that was written for Lance Bass in the upcoming ABC series Apartment 23, I'm still a little bitter about that, and now on Franklin & Bash.

He was the perfect choice for this role of course, Dawson Leery was tame, predictable and maybe even a bit boring when compared to the legendary Zack Morris. Plus they have similar physical characteristics so it's easy to believe Janie could fall for both of them. As Jarred beautifully pointed out in an imaginary conversation between Peter and Nathan. Though, if her and Peter have only been broken up for a year, and she and Nathan are already engaged...she must have started dating Nathan pretty quickly after breaking it off with our Bash.

It should definitely be noted that Breckin Meyer was on his game last night. There were several instances where I burst out laughing out loud over his line delivery.

It was nice to see a little more of the Infield/Karp relationship. How Karp isn't just with the firm because he is Infield's nephew. That Infield respects him as a lawyer as well.

I find it interesting that in the pilot they totally painted Karp out to be the bad guy, willing to do anything, even sacrifice the little guy, to win a case. He is portrayed as some one who is going to make our boys miserable, yet throughout the rest of the series, they seem to have done everything they can to make him a sympathetic character. Ambitious, and driven, yes, but with many insecurities that make him as he is. The fact that he tries to impress the interview by wearing denim and flannel is evidence of that. Awe, flannel being worn in the Dawson episode? Well done!

Since, ultimately Peter, in a classy move, convinces Nathan to go through with the wedding, I can't help but think they're going to have to bring in some fresh blood for next season. Clearly once she's married Peter will have to stop going after Janie. Well, I suppose he COULD still attempt to break them up and win her back, but it would be weird and smarmy. Jarred and Hanna's relationship seems dead in the water, by the way where was Hannah this past episode? Was she still visiting family? How long was it between episodes?

Anyway, I have a feeling just hitting on a random girl each episode may wear thin, so they are gonna have to bring someone new in for either Peter or Jarred, or both. I nominate myself. Sorry, that's the 8 year old me talking again. I would totally do it, though.

Over all, it was a great episode, despite the obvious set ups for next week's episode, maybe the best one thus far. There is only one thing that bothered me, no girl in their right mind would leave Zack for Dawson.

Sadly, next week is the season finale, though we can all rejoice in the fact that they have been picked up for a second season. Huzzah! Infield is arrested for murder and it looks like it is up to our boys to get him off.

I have a tiny issue with the fact that Dawson is the only shirtless one, aside from that this is an epic shot.

Franklin & Bash "Bangover": AKA: The Sexy Episode

Last night I turn on my tv to find our dear sweet Franklin & Bash engaged in a light saber duel. Seems only fitting since yesterday was the star of San Diego Comic-Con 2011, which my geeky little heart weeps at not being there for by the way. The judge however, played by Kathy Najimy, was not so amused. Apparently, Sister Mary Patrick has lost her sense of humor. She decides to hold then in contempt for 72 hours, and so they can not use this as a business opportunity they are on house arrest.

In true Franklin & Bash style they decide to alleviate the boredom of being stuck at home by throwing a killer party. Seriously, how do I get to go to one of these parties? They look awesome. During the party Infield's niece Lily shows up, having skipped her flight back to London in order to see our boys, well in order to see Peter. The girl clearly wants him, who doesn't though, and is coming on strong. To his credit, and with some friendly reminding by Jarred about what happened the last time he banged a family member of his boss, Peter resists.

Meanwhile, Carmen has gone to her room to discover Dante her ex/current boyfriend waiting for her. She mumbles some feeble protests about how him being here violates both their paroles and how the last time was a mistake and how he needs to go, and then they go at it like wild animals. Apparently, as she later explains to our boys, she's addicted to the sex with Dante.

Moments later the cops show up, and they have a dog with them, why they have a dog with them, not really sure.  Apparently one of the boys tracking devices has gone off, and adorable Jarred explains he took some trash cans to the curb. The cops want to search the place, but Jarred reminds them they need a warrant. No matter, it all becomes a mute point when the dog starts barking and dashes off to find a large stash of marijuana in a bag, which we learn belongs to Lily. That's right folks, we just found our first case of our two case formula.

Upon hearing the police on hearing the sirens Dante bolts, promising Carmen he will come back for her.

Cut to the next morning where our boys are frantically trying to get a hold of Karp to go get Lily out of jail, where she has been being held since last night. We find out that Karp was the one who was supposed to drive her to the airport, but he got caught up working on a case and so he put her in a cab. Also, there seems to be a temp bustling around the cave cleaning. Already she annoys me. Carmen joins the boys and Pindar in a daze, which the boys think is a hangover, but the rando temp correctly diagnoses as a "bangover".

Lily, who is studying to be a lawyer now finds herself in court, the judge being none other that Tommy Chong, once again demonstrating the awesomeness that is Pagano/Manwiller casting. For those of you who don't get the joke, a) shame on you, b) Tommy Chong was one of the stars of the Cheech & Chong movies, basically its the equivalent to having Kumar, of the Harold & Kumar series, presiding over the case.  Oh look, the DA is Janie, what a coincidence.

Lily is forced to turn in her passport and released on bail.  Karp wants her to come stay with him while she's here, but she insists that she would die of boredom there and gives Franklin and Bash's address as where she will be staying. Janie seems more then a little disturbed by that.

Back at the Franklin & Bash Cave, we learn Lily has a friend back in London, who is going through chemo, which is why she had the pot on her, since California pot is much more potent than London pot. Carmen finds a backpack full of money left in her room by her booty call boy, and Infield stops by to get some advise on a video game case he is working on from Jarred.

The boys, Carmen and Pindar scramble to hide the money and Peter takes Lily to his room to hide. Obviously the end up sleeping together, despite Peter's initial protests. Once again, I regress to a gushing preteen, over the hotness that is Zack Morris all grown up, as a sexy, sexy lawyer. Mmmm.

At some point, after Infield leaves, the cops show up, yet again, and in bigger numbers, this time for Carmen. Having proof that she violated parole by calling/texting Dante they take her in.

Side bar, I'm happy they are employing more actors, but was it really necessary to have that many cops show up to take Carmen in? I mean seriously, it wasn't like she did something violent to violate parole, don't you think two would have sufficed?

Jarred goes to get Peter who comes out of his room wearing only boxers & his guitar...yes that's right ladies, after sex he was playing guitar for her. Um...yes please.

Carmen is taken away, we now finally have our case two! Huzzah!

Apparently all the Infield Daniels lawyers are busy and there is no one able to take Carmen's case. No one but Pindar that is...

Janie stops by the cave with muffins for Peter, and susses out that he slept with Lily and gets upset/pissed. Ok, wait a minute there, she broke up with him & has basically been gloating/throwing it in his face, in every episode of the series thus far, that she is engaged to another man, and now she's upset about him sleeping with someone else? Nope, sorry Hunny, it doesn't work like that. You were stupid for dumping him, but what did you seriously expect him to remain single & celibate forever? Yeah, no.

Clearly, after some Franklin & Bash style trickery and schemeing both cases get won. I mean it wouldn't be Franklin & Bash if they lost. The episode ends with the boys at The Max Version 2.0, playing another game of would you rather, as all good things should.

What's more important as that we got a glimpse into some characters backgrounds. We finally got to learn a little more about Carmen, that she met her boyfriend through a con. Ok it's not much but it's a start. Pindar, in extreme cases can get it together enough to leave the nest. And we learn that Janie still has feelings for Peter, strong ones considering she was willing to drop a drug charge in exchange for [insert character's name here] to be banned from returning to the US for 10 years, just to keep her away from him. I mean, come on, that alone speaks volumes about her character.

Furthermore I am practically giddy over next weeks episode. We finally meet Janie's fiancee, who as I predicted is being played by James Van Der Beek, who apparently has hired Peter to get him off of a solicitation charge. This my friends, has the potential to be deliciously awkward...

Franklin & Bash "Franklin vs. Bash": AKA Seriously? I Can't Choose

"95% of what I did is 100% legal" - Jared Franklin

Last night's episode featured, strippers and kayaks and jewel thefts, oh my!

Two case set up: Franklin and Bash take on a case of two entrepreneurs, Amber and Simone, who have a company called "Rock & Pole" where they teach pole dance parties, who have been accused of drugging the rich socialites at there last party and robbing thousands of dollars worth of jewelery.  However since their client can't stop bickering in the courtroom, they decide to try a "Chinese Wall" defense strategy, meaning they each rep one of the girls. Separate lawyers same courtroom. Oh you know this is gonna turn ugly.

Hannah and Karp are given the case of a 13 year old boy who wants to be they youngest person ever to solo kayak the Amazon River, only problem, his dad is contesting it. As can be expected, the teen develops a crush on Hannah.

Side bar: Garcella Beauvais is very pretty, but I'm starting to find it a little far fetched that EVERYONE seems to fall for her. Also, why have she and Jared not hooked up again? I'm just saying if I had mind blowing unicorn hallucination inducing orgasms with someone, I would want go back for more.

Hannah and Karp end up winning the case after proving that not only is their client completely competent, but his father's reasons for not letting him go had more to do with not wanting to be left alone, than what was best for his son. At first I wondered how a 13 year old boy could afford Infield & Daniels as his lawyers, yeah I know of all things THAT was the part that didn't make sense to me, but then seeing as Infield seemed so impressed with the boy as he talked to Hannah & Karp about taking his case, I figured maybe it was a probono job.

Well, now that we've cleared all that up, back to "Stripper-gate 2011". As Pindar has claimed to be helping Hannah and Karp with their case, though we never actually see him do anything, and Carmine claims she's busy on another case, again which we don't see any work being done on, the boys are on their own. War is declared when Jaine, who's prosecuting the case, offers a deal, first client to talk walks, the other gets 10 years. With the stakes raised the boys go at each other hardcore, with all sorts of childish, yet highly entertaining, courtroom antics. Peter puts locks on Jared's satchel, because sorry I just can't call that a briefcase, so he is unable to open and remove documents from it in court. I fully admit to laughing out loud as he tried and ended up falling to the ground in the attempt. Of course there is retaliation, Jared removes the screws from Peter's chair. After some brilliant "move stealing" and all out feuding, were Peter takes a hit WAY below the belt as Jarred asks him how come if "The Bash" is so great why does Janie not want him?

Peter ends up at the diner, where Jared comes to apologize, bearing a David Bowie mix. The two realize they work far better as a team, and decide to reunite the case.

Ok, wait, there is a diner on this show where bonding occurs and problems get resolved? I will here by be referring to said diner as "The Max V. 2.0". Embrace that.

Putting their heads together with their clients and Carmine and Pindar, who are apparently able to help now, they realize that the host of the party was going bankrupt. They put together that she was the one who stole her own jewelry and framed our lovely ladies.  Peter and Jared bring this to the court and ask for a warrant to search her safety deposit box, where they believe she has stowed the "stolen" necklace. But the damage has been done and their previous antics have left a bad taste in the judge's mouth, he has lost his patients with them, and will not make it that easy. He denies the warrant request.

But fear not after some quick thinking, and a bit of clever deception, the boys pull it off and win their case, was there ever any doubt? And the day is saved for pole dance instructors everywhere. Huzzah!

The moral of today's story, as Infield so nicely pointed out after the trial, is that sometimes you don't know what a good thing you have till it's gone...cue Peter casting a longing look at Janie as she leaves the courtroom, and applying it to their relationship as well.

Once again the fiancee is mentioned & yet not revealed. Pretty sure they've made some sort of reference to in EVERY episode, and yet we've never met him.

Next week's episode has the boys under house arrest, & apparently the only person who can save them from jail is Pindar...looks like things are gonna get interesting...

Franklin & Bash "Big Fish": AKA Jason Alexander Makes a Good Jerk...

Ah, Thursday morning, that can only mean two things. 1) One day closer to the weekend (Huzzah!) and 2) Time to talk about last nights Franklin & Bash (Double Huzzah!!)

This week's episode was directed by Fred Savage (Aka Kevin Arnold of the Wonder Years, and more importantly The Grandson, yes that's the actual name of the role, in The Princess Bride!!)

Now for the Double Case Set Up:


Case 1 (Aka Franklin & Bash): Carter Lang, A rich Wall Street CEO (who paid himself $20 million as his company went bankrupt), finds out he has two months to live & so he puts Franklin & Bash on retainer while he "rights the wrongs" he has done.


Case 2 (Aka how Karp & Hanna earn their keep): Karp & Hanna have their sights set on snagging Abba Jia, the founder of Madeline Exports, a very wealthy, slightly crazy Indian woman as a client. Hannah, gets the brilliant, & let's face it obvious, choice to get Pindar, as their token Indian, to help.  Of course things don't go as planned (do they ever?) & despite loving Pindar at first, Abba is appalled/scared off by the "Proof" Peter has tapped to the fridge of Jared leaving his toe nail clippings about. It all works out for the best though,  & after some quick thinking by Carmine, Infeld & Daniels ends up winning her over.

But back to the boys, because let's be honest, that's why we watch, Carter is play beautifully by none other than Mr. Jason Alexander, best known for playing George Costanza on tv's hit Seinfeld. But let's face it folks, Jason Alexander has had many great roles, Philip Stuckey in Pretty Woman, Albert Peterson in the 1995 tv remake of Bye Bye Birdie, and my personal favorite, this little gem outta the 80's. (For those of you that have never seen that before now, You're Welcome.)

He starts to do some crazy (illegal) things, stealing & selling off a yacht, which belongs to his "protege" John Stills, breaking into his home to steal bare bonds & expensive wine, then disrobing in the wine cellar and taking a naked jog around the neighborhood.  Thinking he only has a few months to live, the prospect of being in jail for a bit doesn't seem to even phase him. That is until Peter & Jared talk to his doctor to get him to testify, in an attempt to get leniency from the judge & find out the truth. They visit Carter in jail & inform him there was a mix-up at the lab, and he is in fact NOT dying.

You can literally see the change happen, suddenly Carter is not so nonchalant about his situation. He turns on a dime, threatening to lie & say that Franklin & Bash had prior knowledge of his criminal acts, which of course would lead to jail time for them. The boys then find out that John Stills, that Carter was focusing his Robin Hooding on, is in fact the guy poised to "steal" Carter's job. Suddenly the whole rob from the rich to give to the poor attitude seems fishy.  The question now is what can they do about it? Sure he's a scumbag who deserves to go to jail, but he's still their client & it is their jobs to defend him.

There is actually a whole darts scene in where the two discuss what "the right thing to do is", Infeld even weighs in.

What follows is some VERY creative lawyering. The guys not only get Carter out of jail time (which I guess is essentially winning the case), BUT trick him into signing most of his money over to the people he has wronged and get him to agree to going to do volunteer work in Haiti for two years. SCORE!

We also got a brief glimpse into the relationship between the guys & Debbie, their adorable blond Infield & Daniels' secretary, as they offered her advise on the guy she'd been texting with.

Having a lot of the same issues with the show as before. Still not a fan of Hanna or Karp, nothing against the talented Garcelle Beauvais & Reed Diamond.  They just don't have much to work with and so their characters feel flat to me, in fact I think the fact that they went deeper into the bromance of Peter & Jared last week, makes the supporting cast of characters seem even flatter, only popping in & out of the stories when deemed necessary. The exception being Stanton Infeld, who seems to be the only character, I think at least, who's been steadily building since the show's beginning. Last night's episode showed his belief in doing "what's right", and his generosity, he mentions giving a portion of his salary to charity, add this to his want/need of understanding different cultures and the way he obviously cares about the people in his life, checking in on Jared about his father, employing his nephew ect, and you have a  great mentor for our boys.

Next week's episode pits Franklin against Bash which should be interesting. Also, it appears Janie Ross will be back in the courtroom with them. Interestingly enough I think she & her impending nuptials maybe mentioned/alluded to in ever episode, though to date she herself has had very little actual screen time. Maybe we'll FINALLY get to meet this fiance of hers. I'm still betting on it being Dawson.

Franklin & Bash "Bro-Bono": AKA Zack & Travis Leave Me With Questions

So I get home last night to a classy dinner of a PB&J sandwich & flop down onto the couch for an all new Franklin & Bash.

At the start of the episode, Jared brings up the (for lack of a better word) competition he & Karp seem to be in for Hanna's affections, & he seems to be surprised at Karp's ability to play guitar. Does anyone else find this a little weird since just last week they won a beautiful/very expensive guitar off of him? I don't know, the whole Karp/Hanna/Jared triangle thing they've been trying to do, is the one thing about the show that's just not working for me.

As per usual there were two cases, one about a couple going through arbitration since the husband had "cheated". Originally Hannah & Karp were the only two on the case (repping the wife) until Jared inadvertently impresses her with his candor during a chance encounter & she requests he join her team.

Meanwhile Peter & Jared take on a DWI case for an old high school buddy, who for some reason not explained til later in the episode, Jared hates. Btdubs, totally had a moment of happy because I'm pretty sure that  "Double D" was being played by Michael Weaver who played Local Officer Smy, in one of my all time fave movies, Super Troopers. Seriously this show is just a gem of random actors from shows/films I love.

Anyway having rushed to the defense of a friend in a golf cart, since he's living with his grandmother in her retirement community, Double D, then gets into a bar brawl & ends up accidentally punching a plain clothed police officer. Unable to charge him on the brawl, without appearing to be singling him out, so he is charged with DWI for driving the golf cart across a public street, which is a total of 30 something feet.

Of course (somewhat controlled) mayhem ensues. Highlights include Pindar falling for a 74 year old hooker, & Jared shotgunning a couple of beers in court & giving a drunken closing argument.

Hanna admits to having had sex with Jared, & apparently it was so good she had "19 orgasms & saw flying unicorns". Once again, I'm not entirely sure I believe it. I mean, am I the only one who doesn't really see any sexual chemistry between those two? Sure, Jared seems to be turned on by Hanna, but for some reason, I just don't buy it being a mutual thing.

Once again, the show was filled with witty dialogue, ("You better be, Jared" "You better be Peter"), and the chemistry between MPG & Breckin Meyers is undeniable. Made even more adorable by Breckin's twitter confession of:

From: @breckinmeyer
Sent: Jun 23, 2011 1:00a

Franklin & Bash Full Disclosure: @MP_Gosselaar had to teach me how to shotgun a beer. Had never done it before. #I'veNeverTrulyLived.

sent via TwitBird

I find this fact a little shocking as come on the boy was in Road Trip! But then again that explains his shaky execution of the task. Hey, I hung out with Fraternity guys in college, I may not shotgun myself, I def know how too.

For the first time, I left for this episode not only eager to see next week's episode, for amusement purposes, but also to get some questions answered. Seriously when do we get to see [insert character name here]'s fiancee? I mean, we hear about him enough, & when we do actually get to meet him is he gonna be James Van Der Beek? Come on, we know he's gonna be on the show at some point...

Also & this may just be me being...well over analytical, but I really want to know what was in that box! During the resolve of the divorce case Infeld is walking around carrying a small box, which all though he never opens, plays around with. He turns it over a few times & even holds it up to his ear & shakes it. So now I'm deeply curious to find out what was in it. Though for all I know it could just be illustrating the fact that Stanton Infield is a bit quirky.

Either way we'll have to wait till next week to find out. And now I leave you with this gem from Reed Diamond, as a thank you to those who watch...

Thank You Dance

Franklin & Bash "She Came Upstairs to Kill Me": AKA Zack & Travis as Lawyers: I'm Still Amused...

So last night was the second ep of Franklin & Bash, entitled "She Came Upstairs to Kill Me". Seriously the marketing of this show is kinda brilliant as both Mark Paul Gosselaar & Breckin Meyers yet again decided to live tweet during both the East & West Coast broadcasts. Cut to me, sitting on the couch, constantly refreshing my phones twitter feed during commercials to see what sort of ridiculous & nonsensical "facts" the two leads were spouting out.

This week's premise was just the sort of silly, outlandish case that the shows ads have been promising from the very beginning. Isabel (played by the gorgeous Natalie Zea of Justified) was on trial for murdering her billionaire husband...with her va-jay-jay. Yep, that's right, she is accused of over sexing her husband to death. Seriously.

Also in this week's episode were Fred Willard (who to me will always be Ron Albertson from Waiting for Guffman) & Thomas F. Wilson (AKA BIFF!! Of Back to the Future).

And this appears to be just the beginning of famous faces, the ever amusing MPG tweeted that we could look forward to seeing James Van Der Beek, who I feel like is currently trying to relaunch his career, even though he never really went away to begin with. I mean, is it just me or is he like EVERYWHERE lately? Then again I may just still be bitter that he is going to be on ABC's mid season Apartment 23, instead of former *NSYNC member, Lance Bass. Oh Lanceton, how you are missed. Beau Bridges, Jason Alexander (George of Seinfeld, but more importantly Albert Peterson of the 1995 Tv movie version of Bye Bye Birdie), & Tricia Helfer (Burn Notice) will all be making appearances.

Awesome guest stars aside, I think the best part of this episode, was the fact that we got to see Malcolm McDowell's Stanton Infeld serve as first chair on a case. It was great to see them utilize his great comedic acting & have his character actually DO something as opposed to just popping in the episodes to mediate between Franklin & Bash v. Damien Karp (Reed Diamond). The bit where he and Bash try to work out what song is stuck in his head is priceless.

I was glad to see that the second episode of this summer fluff just as fun & irrelevant as the pilot. Also glad to see MPG showing his abs again...sorry, that was the little Zack Morris fan girl in me, who is quite happy that just b/c he's a lawyer doesn't mean that he's confined to suits. Huzzah!

Franklin & Bash: AKA The Return of Zack & Travis into My Life

Last night marked a milestone for me... Last night became the first night that I purposely tuned in to TNT. Don't get me wrong, I have often been channel surfing & stayed on the cable channel after seeing that they were running some sort of Law & Order marathon or rerunning a show I watch, like Bones, but never before have I looked at the clock & demanded TNT be turned on.

What could cause this oddity to occur? The premiere of TNT's new original series Franklin & Bash, starring Mark Paul Gosselaar & Breckin Meyer, or as I had been calling it Zack Morris & Travis  Birkenstock's return to my life.

Because let's face it there is a whole generation of us out there who grew up on Saved By the Bell & can recite most of Clueless off the top of our heads. We all remember the episode "Jessie's Song", where Jessie becomes addicted to caffeine pills (I feel it is important to note that I knew the title of that ep off the top of my head) and can recite the confrontation scene between Zack & Jessie. ("I'm so excited, I'm so excited, I'm so I'm so scared...").

As for Clueless, seriously that movie WAS the teen movie of our youth. Inspiring a whole new lexicon for a generation, not to mention bringing Paul Rudd to our attention in a whole new way, oh Josh....but I digress...

I was giddy about a Gosselaar/Meyer show from the moment I found out it was in the works. In fact I may or may not have told clients coming in to audition that if they booked it the would HAVE to get me a set visit & introduce me to MPG & Breckin (I was only mostly kidding).

Then came the promos (on weretotallylawyer.com) which only added to my excitement. Whoever was in charge of marketing on this one, major props! Instead of the normal, look at these clips from our show approach the add campaign decided to make mock lawyer adds. Seriously, aside from the info on when & where the show was airing at the end they looked like all those awfully cheesy local lawyer commercials you see all over tv, complete with awful fake hallways/walking graphics.

Combine the promos with all the talk MPG has been doing on his twitter, seriously the boy has been doing some hardcore promoting, I was beyond ready/excited for last night's premiere, even taking over the BIG tv in the living room, as opposed to retreating to the bedroom to watch.

The show did not disappoint. It was, as promised a slightly off the wall quirky comedy with a heart. I admit to the fact at one point laughing so hard I squeaked, much to the amusement of the boy who was watching with me. MPG & Breckin have amazing chemistry.

It was so great to see MPG in a role which showcased his comic ability. Considering my last memory of him was as a Porn Star on Law & Order: SVU, I skipped out on Raising the Bar, I just couldn't take the hair, but hey I watched Hyperion Bay & Commander in Chief, so that has to count for something. His Peter Bash is the perfect combination of smarts & smart ass. Speaking of asses, as shown in last night episode that boy has a toned one. Damn...

Breckin's Jared Franklin is spot on in his quirky sexy charm. I totally forgive him for Garfield. Despite being a little smarmy, you can't help but fall for his adorable antics. Dude, I'd totally sing karaoke in the office with him. Seriously you just wanna put him in your pocket & keep him around all the time to just hang out & be silly with.

I'm interested to see more of the supporting cast. Though another spot on casting move is Malcolm McDowell as Stanton Infeld. The slightly eccentric patriarch of the firm which hires Franklin & Bash on and let's face it the man plays eccentric to a tee.

Is Franklin & Bash ground breaking? Hardly, but all and all a cute & funny show, which I will def gladly be tuning in weekly. Do yourself a favor and make a date to watch Franklin & Bash on Wednesday nights at 9pm on TNT.