tv

new and noteworthy tv: 3/29-4/4

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Monday

  • 10 Things I Hate About You (ABCFam, 8pm) Season Premiere – Maybe they cover a thing a season.
  • Pawn Star$ (Hist, 10pm) Season Premiere – What’s for sale?
  • Saving Grace (TNT, 10pm) Season Premiere – We edge into the final season as Grace continues her drama and her chat with her angel.

Tuesday

  • My First Home/Little Chocolatiers (TLC, 8/10pm) Season Premieres – Homes and chocolate, who could ask for more?
  • Law & Order: Criminal Intent (USA, 10pm) Season Premiere – Goran, Eames, and their lieutenant are counting down to their departures.
  • V (ABC, 10pm) Season Premiere – The aliens are back.

Wednesday

  • In Plain Sight (USA, 10pm) Season Premiere – Mary and Marshall together again.
  • The Ultimate Fighter (Spike, 10pm) Season Premiere – Let the competition begin.

Thursday

  • Bones/Fringe (Fox, 8/9pm) – They’ve taken a break but now they’re back.
  • Mentalist (CBS, 9pm) – Will his powers of perception and persuasion work at an earlier timeslot?
  • Fugitive Chronicles (A&E, 10pm) Series Premiere – Real life infamous manhunts brought to life, I love a good reenactment.

Friday

  • Wife Swap (ABC, 8pm) Season Premiere – Tv sanctioned family torture is back.
  • Stargate Universe/Merlin (Syfy, 9/10pm) Season Premieres – Alien and magical worlds return.
  • Miami Medical (CBS, 10pm) Series Premiere – Another take on the medical drama, the trauma unit finds expert surgeons and an adrenaline rush.

Saturday

  • Maybe I should review my Netflix queue.

Sunday

  • Sunday Best (BET, 5pm) Season Premiere – The gospel competition kicks off in Nigeria.
  • Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom (AnPl, 7pm) – Bears like food!
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tv

new and noteworthy tv: 3/22-3/28

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Idol is down to two nights a week so maybe I’ll finally start to catch up on Lost…

Monday

  • Dancing with the Stars (ABC, 8pm) Season Premiere – Countdown to the first injury…
  • Top Gear (BBCA, 8pm) Season Premiere – More gear.
  • Nurse Jackie/United States of Tara (Show, 10/10:30pm) Season Premiere – The ladies return to Showtime.

Tuesday

  • Survivors (BBCA, 9pm) Season Premiere – Apparently some of the survivors are still surviving in this post apocalyptic tale.
  • V (ABC, 10pm) – After a break this special recap reminding us that we want to like this show but don’t.

Wednesday

  • Fly Girls (CW, 9pm) Series Premiere – I can’t believe an airline agreed to have their stews filmed off duty.
  • Mythbusters/Is It Possible (Disc, 9/10pm) Season/Series Premiere – Thwarting myths and looking at science.

Thursday

  • NCAA (CBS, check local listings) – If we’re at the semis this means the brackets are almost done, right?

Friday

  • Chandon Pictures (Sund, 9pm) Series Premiere – An Australian sitcom follows documentary filmmakers/wedding videographers, hmm I think I saw this on Melrose Place.

Saturday

  • Kids’ Choice Awards (Nick, 8pm) – Kevin James hosts the latest.

Sunday

  • Bubba’s World (Fuel, 10pm) Series Premiere – Following champion motocross rider James Stewart.
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tv

idol dozen

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The pain isn’t over, it just gets more serious. The semi finals are over and I will just come to accept the fact that the wrong four were kicked off. Todrick, Alex, Katelyn, and Lacey may not have been favorites to win, but they had more talent and potential than Aaron, Tim, Paige, and Katie. But it reminds me that one of the things that keeps Idol interesting is the possible injustice of it all. So I expect those four to go, even if it’s not in the order I would choose.

What else makes Idol interesting? That’s a good question and every year at this time I start to wonder. And I have to remind myself that Kris Allen, who wasn’t even an early favorite, was the one who took the title last year. So this year will favorites Crystal or Big Mike continue to shine or will there be another upset or just a limp to the finish line?

I will say that it’s as fun to see a performer pick the right songs, continue to improve, and show us why we really enjoy watching performances as it is frustrating to see folks not living up to their potential and the wrong people keep coming back. I’ll keep watching for now… though I may have to skip out on the next few weeks until we cull the herd. Well, maybe after this next week.

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tv

new and noteworthy tv: 3/15-3/21

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Procrastinator picks are underlined.

Monday

  • 20/20 (ABC, 8pm) – Special Bachelor edition for the stories behind the rose, and maybe even behind the behind the rose.
  • Home Rules (HGTV, 9pm) Series Premiere – A life coach helps this family get their home together inside and out (well the out has some remodelers help).
  • Price of Beauty/Transform Me (VH1, 10/10:30pm) Series Premieres – Jessica Simpson takes us on a tour of beauty, then three transgender hosts do some makeover wonders.

Tuesday

  • Justified (FX, 10pm) Series Premiere – Timothy Olyphant, based on a character by producer Elmore Leonard, and getting good buzz, you can’t keep me away.
  • Marriage Under Construction (HGTV, 11pm) Series Premiere – The series follows a couple through house purchase and remodel.

Wednesday

  • Addicted (TLC, 10pm) Series Premiere – I’m thinking this is more along the lines of Intervention than Celebrity Rehab.
  • Destination Truth (Syfy, 10pm) Season Premiere – Looking for ghosts and the seasonally appropriate leprechauns.
  • South Park/Ugly Americans (Com, 10/10:30pm) Season/Series Premiere – The kids are back and then animated folks bring another spin to integrating werewolves, vampires, and whatnot into regular culture.

Thursday

  • Flash Forward (ABC, 8pm) – Catch Tuesday’s recap if you’re looking to catch up for the return of the season.
  • My First Sale/Selling New York/Tough as Nails (HGTV, 8:30/9/9:30pm) Series Premieres – Selling, selling, fixin’ to sell.

Friday

  • Thin Ice (ABC, 8pm) – Not sure what Elizabeth Hasselbeck is doing with Kurt Browning as they host this two part professional ice skating competition.

Saturday

  • DVR catch up day.

Sunday

  • Life (Disc, 8pm) Series Premiere – Created by the same team that did planet earth, nature aficionados and appreciators get ready.
  • Gene Simmons Family Jewels/Kirstie Alley’s Big Life (A&E, 9/10pm) Season/Series Premiere – KISS action then Kirstie gets back on the weight loss wagon.
  • Jerseylicious/Kimora (Style, 8/9pm) Season/Series Premiere – Following folks in a NJ hair salon then checking out Kimora’s new kid.
  • Breaking Bad (AMC, 10pm) Season Premiere – What will the new season bring to our meth making cancer man and his cohorts?
  • Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution (ABC, 10pm) Series Premiere – Jamie tries to get America to eat right.
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movies

oscar fun

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Well I think it was fun. It wasn’t the best show, and it never will be… I love Neil Patrick Harris and he can do no wrong, but that opening number just didn’t go anywhere good. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin played a nice game of ‘look there is (insert actor name here) (insert joke here)’ but though their pairing didn’t bring anything  greater than an individual host, and maybe not even as good as either of them might have been alone, they popped out often enough and made amusing enough comments.

The awards were relatively predictable, though I somehow lost my Oscar pool. The main highlights were the weird ‘Kanye moment’ when the Best Documentary Short winner’s off screen struggles hit the mic, Salon has some of the reported backstory. And when The Cove winners were cut short, was it because the Academy only allows limited time and a single speaker, or was it because one of the dudes pulled out a message to text Dolphin. And the drama around the memorial inclusions, they can’t include everyone but should they have included Farrah Fawcett instead of Michael Jackson?

But most importantly the fashion… no swans this year but a few hits and what I considered misses. I’m not a huge fan of the asymmetrical dress or the nude tones but Sandra Bullock was working it, love to see the best actress be in a stunner. I also dug the patterns of Maggie Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams (who I somehow kept thinking was one of the Kates). And Carey Mulligan not only worked a fun classic silhouette with a twist, but in close up you could see the little scissors and forks that the little bejeweling on her dress were made up of, adorable. As for the misses, I could have done without the overdetailed Zoe Saldana, Vera Farmiga, Jennifer Lopez, and Charlize Theron.

And if you’re so inclined check out the full list of winners at Oscar.com.

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tv

new and noteworthy tv: 3/8-3/14

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Monday

  • The Bachelor (ABC, 8pm) – For those doubters out there, we have a couple getting married.
  • Gossip Girl (CW, 9pm) – I missed a bunch of these and now folks seem to be hooking up with their partners from three years ago.
  • Trauma (NBC, 9pm) – Did you think this show was canceled?

Tuesday

  • 90210/Melrose Place (CW, 8/9pm) – Trash or trashy goodness? I have given up but if you haven’t they’re back.

Wednesday

  • America’s Next Top Model (CW, 8pm) Season Premiere – They’ve dropped the tiny models and are back for another season of bitchiness, I dropped this last season but I’m giving it another go.
  • High Society (CW, 9:30pm) Series Premiere – Just what was missing from the schedule, more reality, this time following some Manhattan socialite and her ‘friends’.
  • First Love, Second Chance (TVL, 10pm) Series Premiere – Couples that didn’t happen, give it another go.
  • Billy the Exterminator (A&E, 10:30pm) Season Premiere – Billy exterminates.

Thursday

  • Sober House (VH1, 10pm) Season Premiere – Some of the gang new and old gives sober living a shot, including Tom Sizemore, Heidi Fleiss, Dennis Rodman, Seth Binzer, Kari Ann Peniche, Kendra Jade Rossi, and Mike Starr, I still can’t look away.

Friday

  • Numb3rs (CBS, 10pm) Finale – This show hasn’t officially been canceled but if you’re a fan you might get ready to say goodbye.

Saturday

  • The Guard (Ion, 9/10pm) Series Premiere – The Canadian Coast Guard comes to the US.

Sunday

  • Minute to Win It (NBC, 7pm) Series Premiere – What will contestants be asked to do in a minute?
  • The Apprentice (NBC, 9pm) Season Premiere – Another round of ‘celebrities’ compete, who will be fired first? will Brett Michaels be seen without his bandanna?
  • The Pacific (HBO, 9pm) – This ten part miniseries kicks off at Pearl Harbor.
  • Ultimate Recipe Showdown (Food, 9pm) Season Premiere – Starting the season with comfort foods.
  • Sons of Tucson (Fox, 9:30pm) Series Premiere – The kind of funny guy from Reaper pretends to be a foster parent to some kids.
  • America’s Worst Driver (Trav, 10pm) Series Premiere – Do we really want to focus on bad driving.
  • The Antonio Treatment (HGTV, 10pm) Series Premiere – Hmm, they are redoing a gym?
  • Hoarding (TLC, 10pm) Series Premiere – If Hoarders wasn’t enough for you, you can chase it with some Hoarding.
  • Kendra/Pretty Wild (E!, 10pm) Season/Series Premiere – Some girl is followed by a few girls.
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