Tool Academy: There is something to be said that when it was announced that the winning team would get a conjugal visit, Shannon and her “Special” Tool were the only ones not celebrating. So not surprising that they got eliminated. But I was really shocked that she took him back. I wonder if there is something seriously wrong with Shannon that we didn’t see because she should be albe to do much better than him. And having him John and Dre P eliminated in succession may hurt the show from an entertainment standpoint. You can stream recent episodes over at vh1.com. You can also download Tool Academy on iTunes.
How I Met Your Mother: Holy crap, I was a sexless innkeeper. And no I am not retelling that story in poem form or not. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.
Trauma: The show really needs to spend more time developing their characters instead of going out on some of these smaller calls. They could have dropped either the skater or drunk couple and spend those five minutes getting to know the characters better. There are some interesting ones there; they just need to focus more screen time on them. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Trauma on iTunes.
Greek: It is good to see Dale born again at the episode because sleazy Dale was physically uncomfortable to watch. Also physically uncomfortable, the thought of a return of the Casey / Cappie / Evan love triangle. Hopefully this doesn’t happen. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.
The Big Bang Theory: Great use of an Eye of the Tiger montage. You can stream current episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.
Castle: I agree with Castle: best case ever. But I may go one further and say it was the best episode ever. And much like Castle, I was conned into thinking that the dude was actually CIA too. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes. Also be sure to check out my chat with Stana Katic.
Hip Hop Honors:: It is interesting to watch the reactions of the founders and CEO’s of Def Jam during certain performances, usually they would sing along and be excited, but were flatfooted during Ja Rule and Rick Ross. And coincidentally so was I. And just behind that front row in the balcony I swear was MC Serch of 3rd Bass who were conspicuously absent during the performances.
Mercy: Crazy homeless burrito stealing dude gets hit by a bike: classic. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Mercy on iTunes.
Gary Unmarried: The ending was a little cheap because once you get a nickname, you are not losing it until you graduate (and hope none of your classmates go to the same college) or you get an even more humiliating nickname. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download Gary Unmarried on iTunes.
Modern Family: Let’s hope Shelley Long isn’t really moving to Canada or at the very least makes the trek down to the states for holidays and family reunions because The Incident on the show was much more satisfying than the one on Lost. And more Dylan and the Rusty Zippers please because much like the families, I have been humming the song all week. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.
Real World-Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins: Yeah, the producers didn’t realize why the champions are champions for a reason. The only Ruins the challengers have won so far was one that a champion threw. At this point are there going to be any challengers left for the final challenge? You can stream recent episodes over at mtv.com. You can also download Real World-Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins on iTunes.
Survivor: Samoa: With the tribe being unable to strategize, it makes me wonder why the show doesn’t have losing tribes go straight to tribal council more often. It has only happened once or trice that I can remember. It could make tribal council more interesting. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.
Community: I actually went to high school with someone who would believe anything I would tell her. I’d try to up the lie in hopes she would finally get I was joking but she would end up believing I was related to the fictitious Shooter McGavin while Darrin McGavin was my grandfather. You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.
Quote of the Week: You listen up, Pierce! I'm gonna tell you what my mother told me when I wanted to quit cheerleading: You're not very pretty, you have no boobs, and you can't do a basket toss to save your life. But you made a commitment. So pick up your pompoms, Pierce, stuff your bra, and get ready for the team bus to forget you at a Taco Bell, because life is tough. But we soldier on, and that's just the way it goes. (Annie - Community)
Big News of the Week: Don’t Bring Chuck Back Early: Last week when I talked about Southland being canceled I pondered what that meant for its midseason shows. Right after I wrote that rumors started up on the internets that Chuck could return as soon as this month. As much as I would like to bring back the Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week, this is a bad idea to end all bad ideas. Bringing it back with only a week or two to promote only to air for a month before taking a holiday break, then air a couple more episodes to be preempted by the Olympics will most likely kill Chuck. There is not even a street date for the second season DVD yet. If NBC is truly making a killing monetarily with Jay Leno despite low ratings, the network should just bite the bullet.
Then they can relaunch the network in a sort after the Olympics where (along with the NFL playoffs) the can promote the return to quality programming of Chuck, Parenthood (which looks to be good and hopefully the stuff behind the scenes doesn’t disrupt that too much) and if they were to move up the premiere of a show, make it Friday Night Lights. Promoting FNL during the NFL playoffs and the biggest sporting event of the year, what a novel idea. But I am not holding my breathe that NBC will do the smart thing because they didn’t even air one FNL promo during the Super Bowl last year.
Coalition Links of the Week: This week, we offered up some valuable lessons ABC, CBS, NBC and the CW can learn from the success of GLEE. (The TV Addict)
Vance loved what may have been Mia Michael's last choreography for SYTYCD on So You Think You Can Dance Canada's Top 6. (Tapeworthy)
Free Download of the Week: Glitter and Doom Preview – Tom Waits (tomwaits.com): Usually when an artist does a preview of their upcoming album, you may get one download, but Tom Waits is letting you download an eight song sampler from his new live album.
Video of the Week: The two Congressmen featured represent areas in and around Cleveland, luckily not mine. But I implore my neighbors to make sure they do not vote for either of them when they come up for reelection next year.
Next Week Pick of the Week: Mercy, Wednesday at 8:00 on NBC: Now that the fall season is in full swing, it may be time to give a chance to a new show you have overlooked. Sure Modern Family is the closest to undisputed best new show of the fall while Mercy got killed by critics. But it is not as bad as they would let you believe. Well, actually it is, but that is the charm of the show and sometimes I laugh more and harder than I do at Modern Family or some of the other sitcoms currently on air. Then for the November 4 episode, be on the look out for Elizabeth Moss who gets admitted into the hospital according to tvguide.com.
Tool Academy: I need someone to explain to me again how running across tapioca pudding leads to maturity? Shouldn’t playing with your food show a lack of maturity? And sadly Big Big got the ax, things will be less fun without him. You can stream recent episodes over at vh1.com. You can also download Tool Academy on iTunes.
Trauma: I though the show was going to turn the corner when Herc told the gang bangers “Don’t shoot the white guy” but unfortunately the character stuff just isn’t living up to the bang bang stuff. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Trauma on iTunes.
The Big Bang Theory: To answer Sheldon’s question he posed at the end of the episode: yes, every hot chick to walk this planet. Or at the very least every one I have ran into. You can stream current episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.
Castle: It always has to be the naïve husband, doesn’t it. But what does it say about me that I was thinking that the babysitter would turn out to be the culprit. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes. Also be sure to check out my chat with Stana Katic.
Sons of Anarchy: One of the most intriguing relationships of the show is that between Hale and Unser, well Captain American Hale and anyone. But the scene where Unser told Hale why he made Hale his number two was a great one. But Hale has been uncharacteristically grey recently. First he doesn’t do anything about Darby’s meth lab and then he gives Jax the video of Opie at the scene of the crime. If Hale’s moral compass starts to drift east, is there any hope for Charming? You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.
Mercy: Even though I saw it coming, I can’t believe they let a raccoon loose in the hospital. And then Dawn Summers killed it! Good times. Although Rescue Me did a much funnier Russian internet bride storyline. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Mercy on iTunes.
Gary Unmarried: It was a little disappointing that we did get to learn what Louis said to the bully. One could deduce that it was something global warming related as it caused the kid to stay in front of The Weather Channel. But it would have been nice to know the exact threat she gave him. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download Gary Unmarried on iTunes.
Modern Family: After keeping the families separate last episode, it is clear the show is at its best when they interest. The fake producers should force the families to have at least one family dinner a week just to have an excuse to do so. And I found it odd that the eldest daughter’s boyfriend has been in more episodes than the daughter herself. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.
Real World-Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins: Someone who still watches MTV really needs to remind me when there is a new Challenge because I always seem to miss the start and have to play catch up. And oh so much happened in the first two episodes. Except any punches thrown. Instead we get a lot of head butting, literally. But my favorite moment so far was Darrell’s housewife comment. He may have said it just to get under the skin of Wes, but he basically insulted every female on the show because Kelly Anne may not even crack the top five sexual partners on the show. But what be the most shocking is Brad being on the challengers team. How many of these has he participated in and hasn’t won any yet. Even Katie and Tonya have managed to scrape out a win over the past decade. You can stream recent episodes over at mtv.com. You can also download Real World-Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins on iTunes.
Survivor: Samoa: I was really hoping that the one tribe was going to go 0-for until the merge. And how you could blame Monica (who thankfully didn’t go home because she was my pick to win it all) because you still were leading coming off the rope portion of the competition. You lost because you couldn’t get the final blocks to stay. Hopefully Russell’s tribe gets back to its losing ways, wise up to his shenanigans and vote him off. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.
Community: From the pilot I thought making Annie the lead would be best for the show and after this episode I realized how they should go about it. For a spin-off, follow her in her pursuit of a psychology degree because those scenes were the funniest of the series so far. I could pass along some plot ideas from the experiments I participated during my college days. You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.
Tool Academy: That was a morbid therapy session. I’m not sure I would want to teach a girlfriend how to appreciate me. And another week another peak into Leah’s world. Last week we learned she was a stripper and this week she has a kid whom I am presuming is not Dre P’s. I can’t image that the Rebecca-Manscaped Tool will last that long because he was ready to dump her after the challenge even though she was a perfect lady during the date. I can’t image it would last much longer after she sees that footage. Plus as we saw from the dress she wore at elimination, she is way out o his league. You can stream recent episodes over at vh1.com. You can also download Tool Academy on iTunes.
Greek: Holy Olivia Munn sighting! Let’s hope that she stick around a while. As an added bonus, having Cappie and Evan catering may be comedy gold. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.
The Big Bang Theory: I was really hoping that the Leonard-Penny relationship would flame out because I had the under. Plus the sooner that happens, the sooner we can get the drunken Penny-Sheldon hook-up. You can download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.
Castle: You pretty much knew there was going to be some sort of draw when they doubled up on the head shaving. Too bad, because the dresses side bet would have been funny. But watching Beckett get in on the action almost made up for it. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes. Also be sure to check out my chat with Stana Katic.
Sons of Anarchy: After some slow burning so far this season, we get to see a boiling point between Jax and Clay. But I get a feeling we will have to wait until the end of the season before something big goes down. You would think Piney would take things into his own hands if Jax doesn’t do something soon though. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.
Mercy:I think I may had laughed more during this episode than any of the sitcoms this week. And that wasn’t even because of the dude from Saturday Night Live because I rarely laugh at him when he is on SNL. Although I laughed pretty hard when no one tried to stop him when he cut off his ear only for a delayed tackle from the orderlies. This show may turn out to be watchable after all, but maybe not for the reasons the show wants you to watch. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Mercy on iTunes.
Modern Family: Really the only thing funnier than a racist (Al Bundy calling Superman and Manny’s father illegal aliens had me on the floor), is a racist that is actually married to a minority. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.
Survivor: Samoa: Well that was a letdown. The promo made it seem like Jaison was going to plot against Russell but he just wanted to get Ben out. Hurph. And what is with all the comined immunity and reward challenges? They haven’t done a separate one yet expect for that mini one in the premiere with just the four participants. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.
I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on In Gail We Trust, Mercy, Trauma, Yo Gabba Gabba, The 20 Most Shocking, Poliwood, Episodes, and 15 Duo Who Should Do It.
- Right off of the success of CTRL, NBC’s latest foray into digital programming is In Gail We Trust starring Eliza Donavan. The ten part series is already up to its sixth episode, but for a primer, here is a trailer for the show:
- After this week’s episode, I think we can go ahead and firmly put Mercy in the guilty pleasure category. I think I actually laugh more at Mercy than any of the comedies that aired this week. And that unintentional comedy isn’t exclusive to the television as the character Chloe (You may know her better as Dawn Summers) has started a blog over at nbc.com which is pretty nonsensical. In other NBC blog news, the real Aimee Garcia has one taking you behind the scenes of her show Trauma also on nbc.com.
- Here’s one for those that have kiddies, Yo Gabba Gabba is heading out for its first tour with tickets currently on sale for American Express users (the rest can get theirs October 6). Head over to their website for times, dates and locations.
- On TruTV tomorrow in the premiere of new series The 20 Most Shocking at 8:00. The show will feature some of the most shocking things ever caught on film like practical jokes gone wrong and after-hour misadventures.
- The press release for Poliwood that looks into the convergence of politics and Hollywood actually has a line in it that says, “The film gives the viewer a front-row seat and backroom access to the most significant presidential campaign of the 21st century.” You know, of the two presidential campaigns we have had so far in the 21st century. But anyways. The documentary airs Tuesday November 2nd at 7:30 on Showtime, a week before people forget to go out and vote. In other Showtime news, Matt LeBlanc will star in Episodes about a show within a show set to air sometime in 2010.
It is a good thing that I declared Modern Family (see my preview of the show) the funniest new show of the Fall season before I watched Mercy because I may have had a hard decision of what show truly deserved that title. The difference though is that for Modern Family, being called the funniest is a compliment on account that it is a sitcom, Mercy on the other hands is a drama. Yet with scenes like the lead grabbing a screaming girlfriend of a car accident victim by the nose to get her to shut up and fighting gang members still going at it were side-splittingly funny. And watching Dawn Summers try to emote is always the highest of high comedy.
But Mercy is supposed to be a serious medical drama to be a fill in for ER now that it has left the Peacock after fifteen seasons. Although with some hanky-panky going on inside the hospital, it may sooner conjure up images of an ABC medical show. The show follows Veronica Callahan (Taylor Schilling in only her second job on her resume) as an Iraq vet now working in a civilian hospital and living with her long line of Irish alcoholic. Bonus points for having a boyfriend / ex-husband / fiancé (actually I am not sure what was going on with that relationship) for calling her Ronnie.
Her best friend on the ward is Sonia Jimenez (Jamie Lee Kircher whose resume may be more extensive than Schilling’s but still nothing worth mentioning) who is tired with broke dudes but still goes home with a cop while blowing off a seven figure lawyer. Yep, Mercy is one of those shows that have not met a cliché it doesn’t want to beat into the ground. Speaking of clichés, naturally there is the doe-eyed newbie (Summers) who is just happy to be there in her Hello Kitty scrubs.
But back to the hospital hanky-panky cliché, it just so happens once Ronnie puts back on her engagement ring, she is whisked into a closet by a new doctor who just so happened to be a fling from her time in Iraq. Rounding out the cast is Delroy Lindo (Romeo Must Die) as the boss at the hospital who naturally has already threatened to fire Veronica. Also there is Guillermo Diaz (Weeds) as your token male nurse. Fun times.
Verdict: The pilot was a tale of two shows. The first half was cheesy fun while the second half lost all its charm with the show taking itself too serious side. If the show goes in the route of the first half it may become watchable. On the flipside it may get into the its so bad its good territory.
Mercy airs Wedensdays at 8:00 on NBC. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Mercy on iTunes.
I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Drain the Ocean, The Tonight Show, Mercy, The Bill Engvall Show and Skeet Ulrich.
- The National Geographic Channel heads under the ocean to explore the terrain and critters that habitat there that we know very little about for Drain the Ocean this Sunday at 9:00. Head over to their website for a cool interactive map that coincides with the program. Below is a clip from the show:
- Apparently the economy is so bad they are even canceling the UCLA Undie Run. Unfortunately they didn’t tell the people at The Tonight Show. Take a look:
- Looky who is in the new Mercy promo, Garrity’s mom. She sure likes hospitals.
- Tomorrow on The Bill Engvall Show, Bill’s deadbeat brother stops by. Check out a clip below:
- TV Guide has exclusive scoop of Skeet Ulrich showing up on the next season of CSI: New York for three episodes as a deeply disturbed killer. Yeah, that sounds about right.
- OnlineCourses.org has posted a list of 25 Super Smart TV Shows You Can Actually Learn From.
I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Mercy, Naked Science: Living on the Moon, Three Sheets, Sons of Anarchy, Meteor, Are We There Yet, and Tom Cavanaugh.
- As you may already heard, Parenthood has been pushed back to midseason due to personal problems and thus Mercy has been promoted to the fall. Below is a promo for the show:
- Tomorrow is the fortieth anniversary of the moon landing and the National Geographic is celebrating tonight with Naked Science: Living on the Moon at 9:00. Check out a scene below dealing with populating the moon:
- I am not entirely sure if my cable provider has a channel called Fine Living, but considering they have a show called Three Sheets, I may have to look it up. The show follows comedian Zane Lamprey as he engages in drinking customs around the world and befriends the people who take part in them. The new season premieres this Monday at 10:00. Here is a sneek peak:
- Sons of Anarchy returns this fall and FX has already released some cool promos for the new season. Check out one below:
- That pesky Meteor is still threatening Earth over on NBC tonight. Here is a clip of wht you may expect:
- Can’t say that I ever saw any of the Are We There Yet? movies, but that isn’t stopping TBS from making it into a series. The show will star the always funny Terry Crews (Everybody Hates Chris) taking over the Ice Cube role who will be producing the show. Expect the show to air sometime next summer.
- For those that are fans of both Tom Cavanaugh and Notre Dame, JournalGazette.net has a treat for you with the former talking about the latter. Check out part 1 and part 2 of the interview.
- This week the seven top news stories of the week according to TV Guide included Weeds, Paul McCartney and somehow Barack Obama coming up short at the All-Star got titled “Best Pitch” despite Albert Pujols having to lunge to keep it from bouncing over the plate. If that was a best pitch, I would hate to see what a bad one was. Oh, wait, I guess that would be Marky Mark.
There seemed to be less drama surrounding the Upfronts this year because it seemed like everything was leaked to be canceled or renewed sometime last week or before. But those last minute decisions have proved to be entertaining. CBS called NBC dumping Medium “inexplicable” which made NBC point out that Medium had smaller ratings than two shows (Without a Trace and The Unit) they canceled which CBS retorted that Medium had better ratings than five it renewed (Chuck, Law and Order, Southland, 30 Rock, and Parks and Recreations). Hilarious.
But line of the week goes to My Name Is Earl creator Greg Garcia who responded when asked about not making it on the NBC lineup; “It’s hard to be too upset about being thrown off the Titanic.” Classic. But it may be a soft landing for Earl as it may be picked up by Fox. Note to Fox: I have not watched anything on your channel since the series finale of Arrested Development; if you pick up My Name Is Earl, I will take you off the parental block on my television.
Garcia isn’t the only one to be burning bridges as Jimmy Kimmel brought his gas can to the Upfronts. The big difference is Kimmel is still standing on his bridge. To the ABC advertisers, Kimmel said, “You don’t need an upfront, you need therapy.” Did someone forget to tell Kimmel these are the people that pay his salary? He then went on to say of the new shows, “We’re going to cancel about 90% of them,” he said. “Everyone is full of (expletive deleted).” I am assuming Kimmel saw the V reboot preview clips that are laughably bad or Flash Forward which looks as good as V but without the unintentional comedy. And the current ABC line-up didn’t go unscaved when Kimmel offered, “Next year on Grey’s Anatomy, your product could kill Dr. Izzie. It just depends on how much you want to pay.”
In other network news, apparently The CW still exists (albeit down to nine hours of programming a week). Who knew? But anyways. Here is what I will be (tentatively) be watching this fall.
Mondays 8:00 – How I Met Your Mother (CBS) 8:30 – Accidentally on Purpose (CBS) 9:00 – Trauma (NBC) 9:30 – The Big Bang Theory (CBS) 10:00 Castle (ABC)
Oh, CBS, why do you smite me? The TBBT/HIMYM was a nice combination, I know you totally ruining that by putting a crappy new show and the unwatchable Two and a Half Men in-between. I sure TBBT will get an extra 3-4 million viewers at 9:30 than 8:00, but shouldn’t CBS care more that they are inconveniencing me? I guess I will give Accidentally on Purpose a chance to bridge HIMYM and Trauma but I have a feeling that I will end up just flipping to whatever crappy show on VH1 during that half hour instead. At least when Chuck returns after the Olympics, I can watch that at 8:00, HIMYM on tape delay at 9:00 then TBBT at 9:30. And much like last season, I will most likely be watching Castle via the internet. The first season was moderately enjoyable and the cliff hanger should make things interesting.
Tuesdays The day continues to the least interesting day on the TV schedule. I blame karaokers, has been’s and never were’s. And seriously, Jay Leno chews up five hours a week and NBC still devotes two hour blocks to The Biggest Loser and Donald Trump? Wouldn’t they get better rating if they were one hour and just a longer season?
Wednesdays 8:00 – Parenthood (NBC) 8:30 – Gary Unmarried (CBS) 9:00 – Modern Family (ABC)
Modern Family sounds like just a replacement for According to Jim except gayer. But it does star Al Bundy (who I assume isn’t part of the gay couple), Carol Vessey, and the token hot chick from Let’s Rob Mick Jagger (who I wouldn’t mind if were part of the gay couple), so hopefully it will be at least watchable.
Thursday 8:00 – Survivor (CBS)
Remember Thursdays were the biggest logjam of the week? Not so much for me anymore. I may turn into Weekend Update during the Survivor commercials, but how entertaining can that be in a non-election year?
Friday, Saturday, Sunday I got nothing. At least until NBC comes to its senses and gives an ax to Southland and puts Friday Night Lights in its place.
Midseason Chuck (NBC; Mondays at 8:00) Lost (ABC) I may also give Day One (NBC, Mondays at 9:00) and Mercy (Wednesdays at 8:00) a chance but will be on a short leash or reserved for Hulu.
Over the past two years, I have killed Ben Silverman for ruining NBC with bad decision after another and batting an abysmal .000 when it comes to new shows (it is safe to now put Southland in the fail column after losing almost half its viewers in a month). I am sure yesterday’s Infronts will get more run for what was absent (Chuck, My Name Is Earl, Law and Order; but note the press release says “Additional series pickups announced May 19”), but some of the new shows at the very least interesting. Here are the five shows that may get my eye this coming fall (or Spring 2010, or possibly that Summer because NBC won’t be revealing their summer also until May 19).
1. Trauma: I am not a medical fan and don’t recognize anyone in the cast (aside from Puff Daddy, not the real one, the one from the Biggie Bio-pic), but this has me intrigued for one reason: Peter Berg, the guy that gave us Friday Night Lights, so the guy knows about scouting unknown talent. And the preview looks epic. Maybe almost too epic as it looks movie type expensive which means if it doesn’t get a lot of viewers and fast, it will be gone soon. Check out the preview below and be on the lookout for Buddy Garrity (supposedly Kevin Rankin, who you may know better as Herc is in the cast but I didn’t spot him in the preview):
2. Parenthood: I wasn’t at all interested when I heard they were doing another attempt at Parenthood. That was until they started casting some really likeable actors including Peter Krause (Sports Night), Maura Tierney (News Radio), Craig T. Nelson (The Incredibles), Dax Shepard (Idiocracy), Bonnie Bedelia (okay, I have no clue who she is), Monica Potter (Trust Me), Erika Christensen (Traffic) and Sarah Ramos (American Dreams). From the promo below, you can also spot Sam Jaeger (Eli Stone) and Mae Whitman (her?). And the behind the scenes people are also pretty solid with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer from Arrested Development producing along with Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights) who also handles the writing.
3. Community: Break out star alert: Danny Pudi. Plus the show stars Chevy Chase (American Vacation) and comes from some of the directors of Arrested Development. Plenty of laughable moments in the preview below:
4. Day One: Here is a show that can go either way, it is from Jesse Alexander whose credits include Heroes, Lost and Alias so we or more likely looking at something that is high concept but low reward. Plus there is a Hayden Painietere look-a-like in the cast in the form of Addison Timlin (if she wears a cheerleader outfit I am certainly not watching (wait, did I just write that?)). And all the Jericho comparisons are not helping (the title refers to the day after a catastrophic event). But the show stars the enjoyable Julie Gonzalo who looks like she is going back to her Veronica Mars long blond hair as opposed to her more recent short brunette locks on Eli Stone. No promo yet (it won’t premiere until 2010), but here is an interview with Gonzalo:
5. Mercy: Again, not a fan of the medical fair, but Mercy doesn’t focus on doctors, but instead the nurses. And it stars Michelle Trachtenberg (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and someone who apparently isn’t Tisha Arnold. The lead manages to have only one entry on her resume. But she does grab someone’s nose in the clip below, so that is a plus. Mercy also has producers, writers, and directors with shows like Friday Night Lights (anyone spotting a trend), Pushing Daisies, and Rescue Me on their resumes. Check out a clip below:
Also on the slate for the peacock network is 100 Questions which looks like it wants to be the new Friends, but if watch the preview you will instantly notice the laugh track which is never a good sign for a sitcom. Also expect reality shows from Jerry Seinfeld (as a marriage councilor), Tony Robbins (helping people threw challenges) and Lisa Kudrow (tracing a person’s family tree). Then this winter is the Vancouver Olympics. And of course don’t forget the Jay Leno hour.
could return as soon as this month. As much as I would like to bring back the Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week, this is a bad idea to end all bad ideas. Bringing it back with only a week or two to promote only to air for a month before taking a holiday break, then air a couple more episodes to be preempted by the Olympics will most likely kill Chuck. There is not even a street date for the second season DVD yet. If NBC is truly making a killing monetarily with Jay Leno despite low ratings, the network should just bite the bullet.
try to emote is always the highest of high comedy.
now that it has left the Peacock after fifteen seasons. Although with some hanky-panky going on inside the hospital, it may sooner conjure up images of an ABC medical show. The show follows Veronica Callahan (Taylor Schilling in only her second job on her resume) as an Iraq vet now working in a civilian hospital and living with her long line of Irish alcoholic. Bonus points for having a boyfriend / ex-husband / fiancé (actually I am not sure what was going on with that relationship) for calling her Ronnie.
) as the boss at the hospital who naturally has already threatened to fire Veronica. Also there is Guillermo Diaz (
) as your token male nurse. Fun times.