24 SEASON OPENER: The opening four hours seemed long to me this time around. I love seeing Katee Sackhoff but all she does is spout semi-technical computer jargon and that gets boring real fast. They’ve also saddled her character with some kind of shady secret and it’s clear they’re going to take a loooong time telling us what that is. In the meantime, her character stupidly allows her white trash former boyfriend to stay at her apartment, because that’s what any smart government employee with a security clearance would do. Meanwhile, Chloe is working at CTU NY and she’s surlier than ever. Is it just me or have the characters on the show this season become caricatures? Even Jack seems tired and kind of fed up, which is understandable given all the mishigoss he’s lived through in order to protect his country.
CHUCK: I am completely wowed by Brandon Routh in the show and I also admire the casting of Angie Harmon as one of The Ring agents. Here’s what I’m wondering as I watch Chuck master his new spy skills: will he also have to master the skill of distancing himself from his loved ones so he can keep them from harm? I know he stepped in as Awesome’s handler but in the future, will he have to keep a greater distance from Sarah & Awesome to keep them safe? You can see the show evolving from last season and I admire how skillfully the writers are taking Chuck to his new level of fight-savvy spy; I have to think there will be a mental evolution as well. I love Chuck’s heart and geek ingenuity but as an almost-super spy, I have to think Chuck’s maturity level will have to move up a notch too.
HUMAN TARGET: There’s great action but very little meat to the story which is too bad because Mark Valley can play just about anything. That said, I welcome any show with Valley and Chi McBride. Tune in tonight if you didn’t catch the pilot episode, and chuckle at Jackie Earle Haley’s bad wig and beard.
MY LIFE AS LIZ: This new MTV show focuses on Liz, an emo teen girl with an emo music soundtrack to match. I watched half of it last night so I’ll withhold full judgment until I watch an entire episode but from what I saw, there wasn’t much of a spark to it.
WHITE COLLAR: The final moment of the fall finale had Peter on the phone with Kate, Neal’s estranged girlfriend, which led many to believe that Peter is a bad guy instead of a good guy. I think this was a giant mislead and a rather obvious one at that. In tonight’s winter premiere episode “Hard Sell”: “Neal must infiltrate a company of corrupt Wall Street brokers to preserve his deal with the FBI. When Peter is forced to go undercover alongside him, a discovery is made that could change their partnership forever.” Note the new day for the show: WHITE COLLAR airs TUESDAY at 10pm on USA.
MORE TED LOVE: Watch BETTER OFF TED before ABC kills it for good, which will no doubt be soon. Such a crime against comedy. It’s one of the best workplace comedies to come down the pike in a long time with a truly incredible ensemble of actors.
GLEE: Looks like Jennifer Lopez and Neil Patrick Harris will be guesting on the show in different episodes. Ryan Murphy was quoted as saying he wanted J.Lo to play a lunch lady at the school. The Golden Globe-winning show is now shooting the much-talked about Madonna episode and rumor has it Coach Sue sings “Vogue.” As Madonna has given them rights to her entire song catalog, there’s sure to be many great covers in the episode.
PALEYFEST 2010: The entire schedule of the PaleyFest will be announced tomorrow morning, Wednesday 1/20. Tickets for Paley members go on sale Friday 1/22 and tickets for non-members go on sale Sunday 1/24. Programs announced so far include: GLEE, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, MODERN FAMILY, and DEXTER. The lineup is always a terrific mix of new and classic shows and it’s always one of the highlights of my year.
I’ll be catching up on last night’s HIMYM episode tonight.
TODAY’S SURF WRITTEN WHILE LISTENING TO: The Beatles’ “Rain”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge-Xl8MTLoo&feature=related
Tonight’s rundown:
ABC: Scrubs (repeat), Better Off Ted (repeat), Scrubs, Better Off Ted, The Forgotten (repeat)
CBS: NCIS (repeat), NCIS: Los Angeles (repeat), The Good Wife (repeat)
NBC: Biggest Loser: Couples (2-hrs), The Jay Leno Show
FOX: American Idol, Human Target (repeat)
CW: 90210 (repeat), Melrose Place (repeat)
PBS: Nova, Frontline, Independent Lens
A&E: Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal, Paranormal State, Paranormal Cops (series debut)
BBC America: 9pm: Last Restaurant Standing
BIO: Shatner’s Raw Nerve
BRAVO: 10pm: Millionaire Matchmaker (season premiere)
Discovery: Dirty Jobs, Howe and Howe Tech
History: How the Earth Was Made, Life After People
IFC: The Jon Dore Television Show
MTV: Teen Mom
Oxygen: The Bad Girls Club
Science: Physics of the Impossible: How to Teleport
Spike: Blue Mountain State, Blue Mountain State
Syfy: ECW
TLC: One Big Happy Family, The Little Couple
truTV: Disorder in the Court (winter premiere, time period premiere)
USA: 10pm: White Collar (winter premiere, time period premiere)
That’s a wrap for today.
