Several shows trended to the dark side this week (The Shield, Lost), but what was really dark was the news that Peter Jennings has lung cancer. Check out Eric Olsen’s piece here.
As always, I take on the shows I watched this week, and provide you with blurbs and links of all the other fine TV work going on at BlogCritics.
Overall take on the week:
Best show on television: Arrested Development, Project Greenlight
Close but no cigar this week: Lost
Rising: The Shield
Rocking It Steady: The Office, The Apprentice
Falling: The Contender
Will never watch again (probably): Alias
Cathode Ray Fray is now a regular segment on my podcast, Dumpster Bust Radio.
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Sunday
Arrested Development - Fox
This show just keeps on bringing it. Another consistently funny episode, though it took about five minutes to get up to full cruising speed. The catalyst needed to fuel the boat this week? Franklin the African-American puppet/mannequin. As soon as George Bluth Sr. (played brilliantly by Jeffrey Tambor… yes, he’s got more in the arsenal than “Hey now!”) speaks in Franklin-voice from the attic, with Franklin off-camera, then proceeds to yell at the puppet/mannequin (the most surprising laugh I’ve had in weeks) I knew we were in for the goods.
Second funniest moment: “Take me to your secular world.” Enough said. If you were there, you know.
The guest star roster for Arrested Development continues to be stellar. This week, among others, brought the great Alan Tudyk to the party. You may not have heard of Tudyk, but he’s been in a bunch of things over the years. He’s close to my heart, of course, because of his involvement with Joss Whedon’s Firefly project… which will soon be released as the full-length feature Serenity.
Oh, in ye Browncoats we do trust!
The Contender - NBC
This week’s episode and climactic bout boiled down to this: God vs. The Kids.
Hell, I should turn promoter.
You see, Brent Cooper, the Tennessee lad fighting out of the East Team, is a man of God. Literally. He talks God, he breathes God, and he may, on occasion, eat God along with his lunch. “God has a plan” is basically stenciled into the guy’s wallet in the place where, for Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction, “Bad Motherfucker” is inscribed.
Then we have Anthony “the Bullet” Bonsante, who, we were told again and again, lives and breathes and eats so that his kids can live and breath and eat. He cries, he gets intense, he pisses off everyone around him with his Kid Talk and I’m Going to Fight Who I Want to Fight So That My Kids Can Eat et al, and so on.
Article comments
1 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
excellent stuff yet again, Eric. I really must get me some of this Arrested Development malarkey. Every time i hear the name i jsut get Mr Wendall playing in my head. Anything bringing back those kinda vibes can't be all bad.
And you reminded me of something i meant to ask a while back - do you know how many episodes of this first series have been made of The Office, or how many are intended? Presumably it'll get more interesting as they start to focus less on the BBC plots.
2 - Eric Berlin
Thanks Duke. The quick answer to your question is that I don't know how many eps of The Office we'll see. But save some quick/bizarre cancellation (it's doing pretty well with audience and critics thus far) we'll see at least 13 eps in the first season, and likely the normal run of 22 or 24 for the next full season.
And because it's Friday, I give you:
Take me to another place, take me to another land, let me understand...
3 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
ha! brilliant!
"tennessee...."
4 - Tom Johnson
I have seen 6 eps of the Office listed, which would make sense - long enough to fill the gap between sweeps seasons but not too long that it takes up precious space on the schedule during sweeps, when it's likely to take a nose-dive in ratings when people flock to the really stellar programming sweeps is known for (that's sarcasm, by the way.)
And, by the way (part two,) Eric, I also really like this rundown of shows every week.
5 - Tom Johnson
Forgot to mention: I was a tad disappointed with this week's Lost. It didn't really progress the story at all, but did tie up at least one critical plot point revolving around Claire's baby. I don't think Boone was all that important to the story, but I'm pretty sure he'll be back in Shannon's flashbacks in later episodes (next season, presumably.) I'm also disappointed that there's not another new episode until May 4. Another month without new shows? This, and the really irritating amount of commercial breaks, are two things that drive me crazy about this show, or maybe ABC is to blame. Either way, knock it off!
6 - Eric Berlin
Tom -- thanks very much. I was about to mention this on last week's post, but I'll mention here: I talked about your assertions regarding Arrested Development (subversive beneath-the-radar shots taken at Fox on last week's show) on my podcast, Dumpster Bust Radio, last week.
Have you seen/heard anything more about them? I'm curious to get more info there -- very interesting stuff.
If you didn't see above, Cathode Ray Fray is now a regular segment on the radio show, so you might like to check it out. Any feedback, of course, would be much appreciated.
7 - Eric Berlin
I had no idea we were in for another month of reruns on Lost: Blast!
Luckily, I usually watch everything via DVR, so I get to steamroll through the commercials: car, soda, Burger King, car, McDonalds... ah, Lost.
Except reruns: Blast!
Oh: and I'm with you regarding this week's Lost to a certain extent, which is why I bumped it down from Best Show on Television to a new just-about-best category. It's fun to see how my feelings change week-to-week on these things.