Nurse Jackie on SHO - Page 9

Good opener, though at first I got caught a bit off-guard by the built-in flashbacks. Once I realized what was happening, it was okay (but I'm no fan of flashbacks in general). Season looks very promising. Loved the huband/lover fight going on while the kids were dancing in the background. Funny stuff.

Definitely a bridge episode. Now we have Jackie in rehab. There is alot of ways they can go with this.

Also, WTF is going on with Cooper's evil twin goatee?

Watched the 1st 3 eps on Showtime On-Demand. Good stuff.

Yeah, the flashbacks after the Welcome to Rehab scene confused me too. I missed all of last season's shows, so at first thought I just missed something. Fortunately, I knew who the major players were from having seen the first season so after I sorted out the flashback confusion, it was like I hadn't missed a thing. Falco is a terrific actress and she does a great job as the charming but terminally screwed up Jackie.

Love the Rehab brunette leader chick and the Red head w/black bad big glasses a bit over weight chick. I guess director/doc guy is ok... This show is a keeper, EASILY. I've loved EVERY EPISODE. That's EASILY saying A LOT.

I loved this week's show. Jackie's counselor at the rehab center is a tough lady. It's a good thing, too. Nobody less tough could control Jacky. She hit the nail on the head when she told Jacky that Jacky had manipulated the visit from her daughter for her own benefit, not her daughter's. I also like the semi-suicidal 17 year old with the memorably colored hair. He is kinda funny and kinda sad, in other words a perfect fit for this series.

TV Notes
Nurse Jackie' Co-Creators/Showrunners Linda Wallem And Liz Brixius To Depart
By Nellie Andreeva, Deadline.com - Apr. 17, 2012

EXCLUSIVE: Linda Wallem and Liz Brixius, co-creators/executive producers/co-showrunners of Nurse Jackie, are leaving the Showtime comedy series. Nurse Jackie already wrapped production on the current fourth season. With the show off to a good ratings start and stabilizing itself creatively this season, a fifth-season renewal is considered a safe bet. I hear that Showtime is already in discussions with a potential new showrunner to join and work alongside executive producer/star Edie Falco and executive producer Richie Jackson.

Working on Nurse Jackie had been challenging logistically for both Wallem and Brixius, who are from Los Angeles and had to split their time between the West Coast and New York, where Nurse Jackie is filmed, for the past four years. This has been the best job of my life, but the travel, having to spend six months (in LA) and six months (in NY) and be away from home, took a toll on me, said Wallem, who is in a relationship with singer Melissa Etheridge. I have four stepkids, and I would miss all of the family stuff. Also, with the series getting a creative reboot this season as Jackie heads to rehab and with ratings up, Wallem said she felt the time was right to make her move.

In its recent Season 4 premiere, Nurse Jackie drew 653,000 viewers in its original airing, up 7% from last season's opener, and a total of 1.1 million viewers for the night, up 30% from last year. Wallem said she is currently spending her time doing carpooling and making lunches for her stepkids while exploring options for Los Angeles-based TV jobs. Wallem has an extensive resume. She started as a writer on Cybill, and served as executive producer on That '70s Show and That '80s Show and as a co-executive producer on HBO's cult comedy The Comeback.

Brixius, for whom Nurse Jackie was her first series, also said leaving the Showtime/Lionsgate TV show was hard to do. Nurse Jackie has been the ride of a lifetime, and for that I am especially grateful to Showtime, Lionsgate and the incomparable Edie Falco for bringing these stories to life, she said. After four years, I have decided to come home to LA even though my heart is at All Saints. In addition to her stint on Nurse Jackie, Brixius also has been busy in features; she co-wrote the recent Katherine Heigl movie One For The Money. Before Nurse Jackie, Wallem and Brixius teamed to co-create another Showtime project, Insatiable, which went to pilot. The two shared a slew of nominations and awards for Nurse Jackie, including a Humanitas Prize.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/04/nurs...ius-to-depart/

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Not to alarm anybody, but the last time a showrunner departed the Showtime TV show he helped create and ride to the top of ratings/critical acclaim we got the last two seasons of "Dexter" (creatively challenged, but ratings kept going up through the bad times). Let's hope "Nurse Jackie" gets a new showrunner that can keep up with what its creators have achieved so far.

Oh No!

Well, if they haven't already defined an "end", then we'll get a clinker season before it's dead. There are two ways Jackie can go now and once that's accomplished there's no reason to keep going. Carrying on with a "clean" Jackie is not interesting and we've already had 3 seasons of drug addict Jackie. The other characters help keep the show being good, but they can't carry the show.

larry

So we've got House 2.0 on our hands now eh... ? That's disappointing...

Is this something new? So, episode 3 is available on Demand before it is aired? I saw that the same with Starz' Magic City, too.

No, On Demand has shown episodes earlier than original air dates for years...

It may be a bit early to declare the death of N.J. Falco is still in the driver's seat so it may well remain a worthwhile show. There's a lot of talent behind the camera besides the 2 who are leaving.

I liked the rehab scenes, wish they ran a little longer with that, but it's good to see Jacki back in the hospital. Kind of a big plot tip off with the new director getting a 10 word text from his green haired kid.

I know the kid with the green hair is Bobby Cannavale's son in real life. Is the character of the kid also his son in the show?

I REALLY like this show. Falco is great, the supporting cast is great, the writing is top-notch. There's a show with a deeply flawed central character that you really care about. Well done!

As someone mentioned this is setting up to be House 2.0 but with cursing. It's Vogler all over again.

I dont blame Kevin tho. He can win and he knows it. Remember Jackie is the antihero of the series, but that is what makes her so much fun to watch.

Zoe losing her engagement ring and her sh*t was hysterical. Who tries to put on latex gloves over a ring? I have problems using extra large sized gloves in labs.

I think his allergies triggered an asthma attack. I totally forgot that Jackie didn't know Cruz and the kid were father/son. When she said in the text "a friend of his from rehab" was taking him home, I thought she just didn't want to give herself credit to Cruz (did he even know Jackie had been in rehab too?). But I guess they were just setting up the big "surprise."

I thought they were showing Cruz having something like anxiety or a panic attack. And I thought it was triggered by him seeing Jackie dressed nicely in a skirt, maybe because he has feelings for her.

I thought the episode was good, and the reveal at the end about Jackie being Charlies rehab buddy worked well. Even though Cruz had told Jackie earlier that "Home is home, work is work", those things seem to be mixing together.

I think they both have feelings for each other. I would be surprised if the season ended without them having some sexual contact.

I didn't know if I would like straight Jackie but I do. While she may be getting some of what she deserved, I feel for her since a lot of what she did to Kevin was to feed her addiction. I am a little surprised that he has so little sympathy for her and is out for blood but he is also really hurting from the knowledge of the Eddie affair.

I loved this week's episode. There were several scenes that were sad, funny, and smart, all at the same time. For example, the scene in the church in which Zoey returned Kevin's engagement ring had me howling at first when Zoey screwed up the lines she was reading from her How to Breakup book but Kevin's comparison of Zales to Paris at the end was bittersweet and effective. I also liked the scene in which O'Hara relented and accepted the backpack Coop had given her. Finally Joel Grey's performance as the dementia addled old nurse, Dick, was terrific. What a wonderful show Nurse Jackie is!

^^^ Yup. The ending was good, too. Previews look very interesting.... Oh, and it was fun seeing Janice and Carmella together again.

larry