Tag / Hayden Panettiere

by admin

Gone Too Soon

Less than two months ago, after finishing her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, I said of Hayden Panettiere:

Hopefully, as she approaches her forties, she’s able to maintain her family relationships and her career.

Unfortunately, she will never get that chance.  Panettiere died Sunday just days shy of her 37th birthday.

Panettiere was a child star, making her first on-screen appearance in a Playskool commercial at eleven months old.  I first was introduced to her work in 2001 when, at the age of 12, she joined the cast of Ally McBeal for its final season.  From there, she would star on Heroes and Nashville on television and movies such as Scream 4 and I Love You, Beth Cooper.

Panettiere is survived by her daughter, who will turn 12 in December, and her parents, with whom she had a complicated relationship.  Her younger brother died in 2023.

by admin

Book 34 (of 52) – This Is Me

This Is Me: A Reckoning – Hayden Panettiere

This Is Me: A Reckoning, the new memoir from Hayden Panettiere, covers the beginnings of her career as a child actor in New York, starting with commercials and soap operas before moving into movies and network television.  She also details her family dynamics and her on-again/off-again with Wladimir Klitschko, the father of her daughter, and how her addictions impacted the relationships between them all.  The book ends with the unfortunate death of her younger brother in 2023.

I first was introduced to Panettiere in 2001 when, at the age of 12, she joined the cast of Ally McBeal for its final season.  That role, surprisingly, did not get mentioned in the book at all.  From there, she would star on Heroes and Nashville on television and movies such as Scream 4 and I Love You, Beth Cooper.  I knew she had a relationship and a child with Klitschko, and that she had given up custody of their daughter to him, but not the details nor the depths of her addiction.  All told, this was an interesting look behind the curtains of her life, taking responsibility for some of the screwups she has made along the way.  Hopefully, as she approaches her forties, she’s able to maintain her family relationships and her career.

by jim

Save The Cheerleader, Save The Network?

Heroes-WallpaperIn the fall of 2006, NBC launched a new show about a group of people with special powers that were destined to come together to save the world.  The show was a ratings hit for the network, but poor storytelling quickly eroded any support for the show and it limped through four seasons before being cancelled.  Yesterday, NBC announced that it was bringing Heroes back in 2015 as an event mini-series, similar to FOX’s plans for 24 this summer.

The difference, of course, is that there were people looking for 24 to return, at least in movie form.  Nobody was expecting, or even hoping for, Heroes to return.  Any goodwill the series had from a strong first season had been burned away by the messes that followed for the next three that led to its cancellation in the first place.

The announcement gave no indication of who, if anyone, from the original cast would be involved in this reboot.  I can’t even remember where any of the characters were left off, so I can’t even speculate on who would possibly be involved.  One would imagine the Zachary Quinto and Hayden Panettiere, the two breakout stars, would have little interest in returning, given their current commitments.

I can’t imagine a world where this gambit turns out well for NBC.  The network has seemingly turned its back on developing original content and has instead devoted itself to dusting off old properties in the hopes that familiarity will be enough to draw an audience.  That strategy didn’t work for Bionic Woman, Knight Rider, or Ironside.  We’ll have to wait until next summer to see if it pans out for Heroes.

by jim

2012 New Fall Season – Wednesdays

It’s Hump Day.  Time to take a look at the midweek offerings for the new fall season.

7:00

Animal Practice – When the best thing about your pilot episode is the monkey that played Annie’s Boobs on Community, that’s a good sign that your show is in trouble.  When you keep cutting to the monkey because you know it’s the best thing about your pilot, that’s just sad.  There is some promise here with Justin Kirk and JoAnna Garcia, but I don’t plan to stick around in the off chance they find it.

Arrow – The CW tries to give the Smallville treatment to Green Arrow.  I’m willing to give it a shot and hope for the best.

7:30

Guys With Kids – Having watched the first episode, which premiered last week, I can only say that this feels like a comedy that could have been on 20 years ago.  And that is not a compliment.

The Neighbors – I only saw a brief clip of this show, but it was enough to tell me that I am not the target audience for this show.  I’m not even sure who that target audience may be.

8:00

Criminal Minds – Jeanne Tripplehorn joins the team for season 8, replacing the departing Paget Brewster.

Modern Family – The family is expanding, as last season ended with Gloria revealing she is pregnant.  This continues to be a consistently funny show.

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