Senses Working Overtime: This Week in Television (10/07/07)

Written by Musgo Del Jefe

MUSGO's TOP 100 FEATURE OF THE WEEK:
No. 50 – Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) (ENC) (THU).

It doesn't top Aliens on the Top 100, but it's close. For the significant jump in visual effects alone, this movie makes the top 100. The experience of seeing it at "The Big Newport" theater on a hot summer afternoon instead of being at work still sticks with me. Cameron's skill at isolating what made the original movie a success and then upending the viewer's expectations, works here in spades. The T2 machine is even better than the original and it's not Arnold as we were led to believe in the trailers (imagine pulling that trick off these days). My favorite part is the turn of Sarah into a kind of Terminator terminator herself. The character interactions set in the first film are played just the opposite here. Sarah is the boss not Arnold. Remember, "The future is not set."

Ratings around this movie:
44 – Aliens
54 – Alien
58 – Dracula (1931)
68 – Close Encounters Of The Third Kind

RANDOM RUMINATIONS: TV RATINGS
It's hard to judge the beginning of the season. Some of the shine of "premiere" week will be off in a few weeks. But there are a host of the same names riding high. Heroes turns up with a lofty 17 million viewers (good enough for #7). The bad news is my fear that Bionic Woman could gain a foothold on Wednesday nights and steal viewers from Lost. The 13.9 million viewers for BW are considerably more than Lost's 9-10 million average night. Only comedy in the Top 20? Once again, it's Two And A Half Men at #18 with 13.6 million viewers. Go figure.

SUNDAY:
NFL Sunday Night Football (NBC) The Packers are 4-0 and Favre is the best QB of all-time. That's what the papers say. Tonight should be a great test against the still respectable Bears defense. These Packer-vs-Bear games are always good competition. And you need something to watch between The Simpsons and Family Guy.

The Next Iron Chef (FOOD) Start of a new entertaining season. Unlike other reality shows, I don't feel compelled to watch in order or even a whole episode at a time. This is a top favorite of mine to just drop in on for twenty minutes at a time, like the friendly neighbor you can share a beer with.

MONDAY:
Heroes (NBC) More Mendez painting secrets, more Ando, and more Hiro and Kensei. I'm still high on the show but is anyone else not feeling the magic of the first season so far?

VH! Hip Hop Honors (VH1) Tracy Morgan hosts – that alone should be worth a few gaffes. Watch and celebrate the greatness that is/was A Tribe Called Quest.

TUESDAY:
49 Up (PBS) Seriously, if you haven't checked out this great documentary series, don't worry about catching it in continuity, head straight for your TV and watch the latest installment from 2005 – you won't feel too far behind. And it doesn't ruin the earlier volumes when you go to catch up. Don't wait until 2012.

Reaper (CW) People are telling me I should check this show out. #1, it's on CW, so I'll wait for another month and see if they're still talking as highly about the show. I've never argued that the concept looks great, I just have never seen how it would arc over 22 episodes.

WEDNESDAY:
Pushing Daisies (ABC) Another show that I'm getting pressure to add to the Tivo. 'll give you this, the commercials always look great. Am I ready to add another Wednesday show?

Back To You (FOX) I'm sure it's not as funny as the ads. But I will say the commercials and the quotes that get pulled out for print ads are really funny. Should I add this instead, just because of the Fred Willard factor?

Late Show w/David Letterman (CBS) Stephen Colbert promotes his new book and probably fawns over fellow guest, Eva Mendes.

THURSDAY:
30 Rock (NBC) Seinfeld last week and the greatness of Will Arnett this week. This show isn't holding back trying to get my attention.

My Name Is Earl (NBC) Off to a great start. Like the change to a season-long story arc last season, this change to prison for Earl has led to some great new characters and storytelling techniques. Tonight, flashbacks reveal how Earl and Joy both know prisoner Frank (Michael Rapaport).

FRIDAY:
Strait-Jacket (TCM) Forgotten Joan Crawford film from 1964 is a perfect October, Friday night film. Joan is just out of the mental institute after 20 years for hacking up her husband and his girlfriend. And now ax murders start again as Joan is trying to rebuild her life.

Child Brides (PBS) Scary doc. on girls as young as 12 forced into marriage.

Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC) Q-Tip talks about his Hip Hop Honor. Anne Heche talks about Men In Trees.

SATURDAY:
Endurance (DISC KIDS) This Survivor for kids has been around for over five years. Forget that KID NATION business, this is the real deal in kid’s reality shows. Survivor could learn from the actualy "fun" challenges on this show. This season, tweens travel to Fiji.

CSI: Miami (CBS) Your other choices are AL Baseball Playoffs or NASCAR Racing. This repeat of the show's 100th Episode is a pretty entertaining hour and trust me the story about counterfeit $100 bills will actually teach you some cool money trivia.

TV-ON-DVD TO OWN: (to be released Oct. 9)

1. Alfred Hitchcock Presents (Season 3) Classic, classic episodes. Great TV. Underappreciated.

2. Family Ties (Complete 2nd Season) The Keatons!

3. Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Season 1, Volume 2) It's the American series, but I mention it because it's Uncensored for whatever that's worth.

4. Creature Comforts (Complete 1st Season) It only last a few fun-filled weeks this summer in the US – here's the full seven-episode run that CBS decided to bail on.

5. Meerkat Manor (Season 1) One of the best dramas on TV? Maybe, maybe. Totally engrossing. And wait until the plot twists of Season 3.

TV-ON-DVD NEWS:
It's been moved from November to January 8, 2008, but I'm still excited to see the All-Star Family Feud DVDs. Among the episodes on these must-own party discs: Love Boat Vs. WKRP, One Day at a Time vs. Benson, Soap vs. Three's Company, Gilligan's Island vs. Hawaiian Eye, Soap vs. Real People, and Battle Of The Perfect 10s. ("Let's play the Feud!). Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist is finally releasing a Complete Series package on 13 discs on November 20th with commentaries and loads of extras including the "Short Attention Span Theater" shorts.