sports, tv

next week 9/8

3 Comments

New and notable in the week ahead, procrastinator picks are underlined.

Monday

  • Terminator: SCC (Fox, 8pm) Season Premiere – Sarah and her son John moving in time to try to stop things before they go awry, and stay alive, though the leads are both a little stiff, as the supporting cast and stories were developed so was the interest (though I might have to lose it in this time slot against GGirl and Chuck).
  • CMA Music Festival (ABC, 9pm) – Fans and country stars are shown from this four day music festival.
  • Dr 90210 (E, 10pm) Season Premiere – This reality follows a doctor in Beverly Hills I assume.

Tuesday

  • Fringe (Fox, 8pm-replays Sun) Series Premiere – 95 minute start of the JJ Abrams series (Lost, Alias, Felicity) brings us what’s being most closely compared to the X-files, as an FBI agent investigates “phenomena” with the help of old science guy and son (Dawson Creek’s Joshua Jackson).
  • Privileged (CW, 9pm-replays Sun) Series Premiere – Cute Joanna Garcia (Reba) is introduced to the world of the spoiled as a live in tutor.
  • Fashion Rocks (CBS, 9pm) – Denis Leary hosts this mix of fashionable rockers and rocking fashions.
  • The Rachel Zoe Project (Bravo, 11pm-repeats) Series Premiere – Follow real life celebrity fashion stylist and her posse as they style the celebrities.

Wednesday

  • Greatest American Dog (CBS, 8pm) Season Finale – The final three dogs compete, and I admit that I’ve dropped off this show but the difference in dog’s (and owners) performance on the different kinds of challenges was fun to see.
  • ‘Til Death (Fox, 9pm) Season Premiere – This Brad Garrett and others show about two couples, one jaded, one not, has never made it to my watched list.
  • Do Not Disturb (Fox, 9:30pm) Series Premiere -Jerry O’Connell plays the general manager of this hip hotel with apparent staff shenanigans.
  • Real World/Road Rules Challenge (MTV, 10pm-repeats) Season Premiere – I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen this show which starts its 16th season of competition.

Thursday

  • MTV’s Top Pop Group (MTV, 10pm-repeats) Series Premiere – Music acts compete as Mario Lopez hosts.
  • Comics Without Borders (Show, 10pm-repeats) Series Premiere – This looks like a standup comedy showcase.

Friday

  • 2008 Alma Awards (ABC, 8pm) – Eva Longoria Parker hosts the Latino Awards with recipients like America Ferrera
  • Don’t Forget the Lyrics (Fox, 9pm) Season Premiere – And the lyric singing continues.

Saturday

  • Action Sports (Sat/Sun NBC, USA) – The Toyota Challenge takes us to Salt Lake City as the guys get closer to winning the Dew Cup my favorite is still the vert skate and though Bucky’s in the lead it’s anyone’s game.
  • Coco Chanel (Life, 8pm) – Shirley MacLaine plays fashion icon Chanel in this tv movie of her life.
  • MADtv (Fox, 11pm) Season Premiere – Jerry O’Connell guests as this skit series returns.
  • SNL (NBC, 11:30) Season Premiere – Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps hosts and hopefully doesn’t embarrass himself with Lil Wayne performing.

Sunday

  • Catch up on tivo or replays of premieres of Fringe and Privileged, I love when they replay starters to give you some time to catch before you settle into a season.
Continue Reading

tv

9021over it?

No Comments

90210_cast.jpgSo what did we all think? They threw everything but the kitchen sink at us, drugs, alcohol, stealing, cheating (academically and romantically), fighting, adoption, unknown children, oral sex, cyber sex, blogs, texts, rival school pranks, ex friends, shopping, private jets, glamorous night life, and manipulative spoiled brats. And somewhere in there the desire to do the right thing brought out by our new family from Kansas. We’ve seen the formula before, but what used to feel fresh isn’t quite there yet.

Plus who could forget Brenda and Kelly hanging out with Nat at the Peach Pit putting it all behind them. These adult return characters really just seemed tacked on at this point. But potentially because they were, not sure how late in the game the contracts were signed. Though I was happy to see that Brenda and Kelly had moved on somehow by wanting to be mature well adjusted versions of their former drama queens they both came across as bland.

So did I like it? Yes. Should I have? No. But this is because I have matured enough as a viewer to know that 1) I remember 90210 with great fondness 2) I’m immature and just like a crappy teen soap and 3) sometimes shows need time to grow, or at least grow on you. As I recall the sassy trash of Gossip Girl didn’t wow me at first pass and the OC took a while for me to really appreciate it’s sarcasm and self mocking. Though lest you think my standards are nonexistent I tried but couldn’t commit to One Tree Hill which was just missing any quality ingredients.

Tonight I may have to sacrifice (i.e. not watch live) ANTM in lieu of Bones, before I suffer a CW overload.

Continue Reading

tv

gossip again

1 Comment

gg_cast2.jpgSo we see the start of the fall season tonight with the premiere of Gossip Girl. I started by mocking how cheesy this show was but came to relish in it. Teen soaps are faster today than they were when 90210 first hit the scene and the audience has become more sophisticated. Each new show seems to need to up the ante in some way. GGirl is based on a popular series of books and seems to combine the flash of the NY ultra privileged as well as the use of the digital age. Our unidentified narrator (wonderful Kristin Bell) is a blogger who tells all, with the help of people who send her reports and images of gossip in all its glory.

Serena is the reformed bad girl who finds the good guy Dan, but can’t keep him. Dan is the scholarship boy who doesn’t fit in with the snobs and doesn’t want to. Blair is the snobbiest of snobs playing the ever so good girl who can manipulate better than the rest. Nate was her true love who slept with Serena, and after the break Blair fell for bad boy Chuck (in his ridiculous bow ties). And of course we have Dan’s sister and wannabe social climber Jenny. And for a touch of the ‘old’ our true love couple Dan and Serena’s parents were once young lovers who are crossing paths again, through mostly not with each other.

Apparently we start the season off in the Hamptons, what will the kids be up to? Last we saw, Dan was breaking up with Serena because he couldn’t stand the lies. Blair was stood up by Chuck, who couldn’t go through with being a one gal guy. Nate was dealing with dad running out on his drug and embezzlement charges. Jenny was starting her devil wears prada internship, while her dad was hitting the road to tour with his band. And Serena’s mom was probably on her honeymoon with Chuck’s dad.

The challenge with this show, and those like it, is that the majority of the action is romance, or at least sex. And of course there’s at least one bad guy, who we start out hating but then we realize they have a heart of gold. And then once they reform, what are we to do, recruit new bad blood? But sadly we can never stand folks brought in for just that purpose. So once we’ve run through the coupling and the drama of the first season it all feels a little forced. Here’s hoping these kids can keep it fresh. If not there’s always the new 90210 which might be good for at least a season.

Continue Reading