WARNING: The free form ramblings continue, be prepared for run-ons, incomplete thoughts, and atrocious punctuations. This is what happens to a mind on TV, it's not pretty, but kind of fun.
The new season starting to catch steam. All the shows I want to sample are coming fast and furious, leaving me with little time to write about them. I'll do what I can.
Best show I watched this week: Battlestar Galactica, followed closely by Lost.
Worst show I watched this week: The War at Home.
Sunday 9/18.
- King of the Hill (Fox 7:30). I can't believe that this is still on. I can't believe I still take the time to watch it, I've never been much of a fan. Anyway, this season premiere was decent, as the guys try to ditch Hank, by also ditching Bill. Nothing really new here, and I probably won't continue watching. And they didn't keep Futurama... **
- The Simpsons (Fox 8pm). The second episode of the season is a bit better than the first, but not much, this series has been slipping for years now. I just don't find it all that funny. This episode has them placing the cemetery next to their house, giving Lisa a wonderful view which scares the heck out of her. Far from their best work. **
- The War at Home (Fox 8:30). Don't know why I gave this a second week, the first was abysmal, the second even worse. This is an awful series. 0
- Family Guy (Fox 9pm). Peter leaves and gets a job at a brewery, while back home Brian marries Lois. Turns out to be a winner, although the memories of the show are a bit muddled. See what TV does to you? ***
- American Dad (Fox 9:30). Stan decides to teach his son sex ed, so as not to let the school get their hands on him. Funny episode, but it still strikes me as a redux of Family Guy. ***
- Wanted (TNT 10pm). The first season draws to a close as the team joins up with the LAPD to bring down a ganglord on a rampage. The issue becomes a bit more personal as one of the team is attacked at her apartment. A rather forgettable end to the season. **.5
Monday 9/19.
- WWE: Raw (Spike 9pm). Bischoff tries to strip Cena of the title in favor of Cena, but Vince arrives to stop that, and announce the upcoming Homecoming to USA show. Trish has her first singles match since her injury, defeating Torrie Wilson. Trevor Murdoch of the new tag champs defeats Hurricane in a singles match. Carlito and Flair have a good rematch for the IC title. The show closes with a good 8 man tag pitting Cena, HBK, Matt Hardy, and Big Show against Kurt Angle, Chris Masters, Edge, and Snitsky, with the faces winning with a pile on. ***
- Surface (NBC 8pm). Another new alien invasion show. I thought it had a decent start, although the three pronged approach may not be in it's advantage, but we will see. We get glimpses of creatures swimming in the ocean, and some strange eggs are starting to hatch. I am willing to give this a couple more weeks to grab my attention. **.5
- Las Vegas (NBC 9pm). One of my favorite guilty pleasures. This season starts off with Ed getting the band back together to work under new owner Monica, played by Lara Flynn Boyle. It takes some doing to get them together, but once they are, it isn't long before they have to stop an attempted robbery. Fun. ***
- Medium (NBC 10pm). Can't believe that Patricia Arquette won an Emmy for this. It's not bad, but at times I find it to be dreadfully dull. This episode for example, I couldn't care less about the plot, it was moving to slowly to hold my attention. **
- Arrested Development (Fox 8pm). What a glorious day it is to have the return of of Bateman and crew. This show is great. It is discovered that the wrong Bluth is behind bars, and that they are selling off the cabin's land that none of them have ever visited, plus the matriarch Bluth is off her meds, and George Michael is avoiding Maybe. ****
- Kitchen Confidential (Fox 8:30). A new debuting sitcom, I actually liked it. Seems like it could make a good pair with Arrested Development, if only people would watch it! This one is about a chef with an anger issue, he spent some time in prison, and is now trying to turn himself around. ***
- Prison Break. This has been developing nicely. Schofield has had a good number of roadblocks. Outside forces are gathering and conspiring to get him out of that prison. Will they succeed? We also get to see some evidence that may exonerate Lincoln. Good stuff, the supporting cast is colorful and fleshes out the show, ***
Article comments
1 - Bob A. Booey
"King of the Hill" is a great, underappreciated show that is 100 times better than "Futurama" ever was. The problem with "Futurama," if you could get past the Matt Groening name and the similar animation styles, was that it didn't have the smart Harvard Lampoon writers "The Simpsons" did and it just wasn't funny. Period. I gave it every chance and it always sucked.
I watched the last half of the "Joey" premiere and it reeked of desperation. The show, despite NBC's spin, hasn't improved. They're going for an "Entourage" vibe by giving Joey new hanger-on buddies like his annoying, random new Arsenio Hall-Lite actor friend who tries to help him get work. The writing is still horrible and Matt LeBlanc has become, if it's possible, an even WORSE actor who shouts out every line and has a painfully predictable line delivery. And the ratings reflect it. People may have loved friends, but they're not stupid.
The romance between Joey and his neighbor Alex had no real chemistry, and the writing was so bad that the rooftop scene where Joey expressed schmaltzy but very Rachel-and-Ross-like words to his neighbor were immediately ruined with LeBlanc overacting a mock comic reaction following them. This is the difference between the generic idiocy of "Joey" and the subtler touch of "Friends" in a nutshell -- "Friends" would have let the romantic moment develop and not wiped it away with a cheap joke. Everything about "Joey" seems unoriginal and has "notes from the network" all over it, from the generic stupid theme song -- "Everything's gonna be alright, yeah" -- to the boring and uninspired supporting cast. It doesn't have the wit or courage to be a true satire of Hollywood and struggling actors and it relies way too much on the dumb cutesy factor with LeBlanc that lost its appeal on the public halfway through last season, when the ratings began their nosedive.
And the ratings were bad for the premiere, which is further indication that the show will be gone after its contractual obligation ends this year.
It's poetic justice that "Everybody Hates Chris" beat "Joey" in the ratings because it's everything "Joey" is not: smart, funny, drawn from real talent, and genuinely, not akwardly and artificially, touching and sweet.
"Joey," much like its main character, tries too hard to be appealing to everyone and in the process is endearing to no one and has not distinct style or point of view for its comedy. "Friends" was never great art, but it was the ultimate yuppie comedy that created its own language and comedic style for the sitcom genre. The writing on "Friends" got progressively worse and the jokes got cheaper, but it was a hundred times better in its worst episode than "Joey" has been in its best. "Joey," despite sharing some of the same producers and writers, has none of the same feel or inoffensive, pleasant attractiveness of the show it was spun off from.
That is all.
2 - Scott
I'm amazed "ER" is still on the air. What is this now...it's 11th season or something? I guess it's still popular enough to justify it's existence.
And I must respectfully disagree while also agreeing with Bob on "Futurama" and "King of the Hill." KOTH is great and underappreciated but I love Futurama more. If it came to a choice between the two, I'd pick Futurama.
3 - Bob A. Booey
"ER" still has decent ratings and it's probably more about the franchise than the actors now. I can't see it being on the air in five years, but I guess we'll find out if people will still tune in with the last of the original cast gone now.
"King of the Hill" has more three-dimensional characters and more insight into family and personality than all but a few shows on TV during its run. That's saying a lot for an animated show and Mike Judge has shown he can consistently surprise you with his wit and brains as well as his humor. Plus, "King of the Hill" is just 100 times funnier than "Futurama" ever was.
That is all.
4 - Tom Johnson
Am I the only one to find some Ed-like charm in My Name is Earl? As much as I enjoy it, I worry that it will succumb to what ultimately dragged Ed down - that its premise will wear thin and the effort to "do good" every episode will quickly become a very repetitious formula. I'm hoping they can look beyond Earl "doing good" every episode and instead let him struggle at things for longer than 20 minutes a week. Doing good isn't usually the easiest thing. Here's hoping they show Earl really working at getting past his flaws to do the right thing - eventually.
I'm thrilled to see Joey tanking already against the far superior Everybody Hates Chris. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this show develops, but it's already on the must-see list.
Invasion is going to have to get a lot more interesting for me to keep coming back. The premiere was a yawner.