GREY’S ANATOMY: I watched some of the Olympics last night but from 8-10pm, I opted for the ABC dramas. THE DEEP END was ok but the best actor in the show is still Norbert Leo Butz as Rowdy. He seems a bit out of place in this group of pretty people but his acting chops are so good, I don’t mind it. Tina Majorino had a nice storyline last night but it’s clear they want to put her together with Mechad Brooks’ character so the story didn’t quite gel.
As for GREY’S, it was an episode containing flashbacks to the 1980s and Sarah Paulson played the younger Ellis Grey (Meredith’s mom). Always nice to see her on the TV screen. I liked last night’s episode because it had the more experienced doctors telling their stories about their internships which added to the basis of the characters. The episode also contained a strong story about Dr. Bailey which is always an added bonus because Chandra Wilson plays everything well.
THE WINTER OLYMPICS: For me, the commercials are always part of the Olympic viewing experience since the bits and pieces of the Olympics I watch are in real time. The glut of PARENTHOOD promos are almost too much and my enthusiasm for the show wanes with every new preview because it feels like they’re trying too hard. I like the fact that they either stole the Badly Drawn Boy-esque music or used his music but it doesn’t change the fact that the actual clips from the show look iffy at best. At least they’re better than the new promos for Leno’s return to THE TONIGHT SHOW which are, as the kids say, “weak sauce.”
LEVERAGE SEASON FINALE: Tim Hutton’s character of Nate has taken a slide downward and Hutton played it beautifully so that you actually felt bad for him and wanted to make it better. I won’t tell you what actually made it better for him in case you haven’t seen the episode yet but it involved a familiar face that I was glad to see again. I love these short seasons of LEVERAGE and BURN NOTICE; I think the episodes are of better quality and I don’t get bored with the shows.
NOT IN THIS LIFE OR ANY OTHER: FOX cancelled PAST LIFE today after three airings. KITCHEN NIGHTMARES will fill the timeslot.
UNDERCOVER BOSS: HOOTERS edition. The CEO of Hooters had zero personality so watching him go through the motions made for a totally humdrum episode. He also encountered a franchise manager who was a total pig, and I’m being polite when I use that term. The offensive manager was reprimanded for his stunt of holding a bean-eating contest and not allowing the waitresses to use silverware. I thought he should’ve been fired but gee, I guess corporate America is more tolerant these days. The hard-working mom was given a vacation with her kids which was nice but I thought a raise would’ve made a lot more sense.
FUNNY IS MONEY & FUNNY IS ON HBO TONIGHT: THE RICKY GERVAIS SHOW premieres which is the animated version of the side-splittingly funny podcasts Gervais and Stephen Merchant did with their odd pal Karl Pilkington. Gervais & Merchant love Karl’s lopsided view of the world and it makes for great comedy. Tune in at 9pm for that, immediately followed by the season premiere of THE LIFE AND TIMES OF TIM at 930pm. The show is very funny on its own but look at this lineup of guest stars (and I’m not revealing all of them right now): Tony Hale (CHUCK, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT), Jennifer Coolidge, SNL’s Will Forte, Cheri Oteri, Missi Pyle and Chris Parnell (30 ROCK, SNL). Finally at 10pm, REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER returns to start another cycle of new shows with guests Seth MacFarlane (FAMILY GUY), Norah O’Donnell (NBC News), former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer, Elizabeth Warren and Wanda Sykes.
SUNDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT: The Discovery Channel offers up KING TUT UNWRAPPED at 8pmET/PT: “Hoping to reconstruct King Tut’s family tree, Dr. Hawass and his team begin the intricate process of collecting DNA samples from the royal mummy.” After my trip to Egypt in 2008, I’m fascinated with this stuff. If you are too, take a look at the video clips Discovery has posted:
http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/king-tut-unwrapped-collecting-royal-dna.html
MONDAY NIGHT: MEN OF A CERTAIN AGE season finale, THE BACHELOR: THE WOMEN TELL ALL – where I expect the gal who fooled around with one of the show’s producers will be called a variety of not-nice names.
IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING: I’m not re-watching the SOUTHLAND episodes on TNT right now because I watched all of them on NBC when they first aired. New episodes start airing the first week of March so I’ll be tuning in then to see the newer episodes. If you love a good cop show, be sure to watch SOUTHLAND, Tuesday nights on TNT.
I only caught 10 minutes of last night’s ARCHER and it made me laugh out loud. I’ll be doing my mini-marathon this weekend. Love the animation too.
GET WELL WISHES: To Kiefer Sutherland. He had to have some surgery for a ruptured cyst near his kidney. The surgery went well and all reports indicate he’s recuperating very well. It’s tough to imagine Jack Bauer in a hospital gown.
TODAY’S SURF WRITTEN WHILE LISTENING TO: Chopin’s Piano Concertos performed by Rafal Blechacz
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123604975
Tonight – Friday 2/19/10
ABC: 8:00 p.m. Movie: Meet the Fockers (R) 10:00 p.m. 20/20
CBS: 8:00 p.m. Ghost Whisperer (R) 9:00 p.m. Medium (R) 10:00 p.m. Numbers (R)
NBC: 8:00 p.m. 2010 Winter Olympics
FOX: 8:00 p.m. House (R) 9:00 p.m. Kitchen Nightmares
THE CW: 8:00 p.m. Smallville 9:30 p.m. Smallville (R)
HBO: 9pm: The Ricky Gervais Show (series premiere), 930pm: The Life & Times of Tim (season premiere), 10pm: Real Time with Bill Maher (season premiere)
Syfy: 9pm: Caprica (new episode tonight)
Starz: Spartacus: Blood and Sand
SATURDAY 2/20
**NOTE: DISCOVERY: 12NOON – DEADLIEST CATCH marathon in memory of Captain Phil.
ABC: 8:00 p.m. Movie: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azbakan (R)
CBS: 8:00 p.m. Numb3rs (R) 9:00 p.m. 48 Hours Mystery 10:00 p.m. 48 Hours Mystery
NBC: 8:00 p.m. 2010 Winter Olympics
FOX: 8:00 p.m. Cops (original and repeat) 9:00 p.m. America’s Most Wanted
SUNDAY
ABC 7:00pm. America’s Funniest Home Videos 8:00pm. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 9:00pm. Desperate Housewives 10:00pm. Brothers & Sisters
CBS 7:00 p.m. 60 Minutes 8:00 p.m. The Amazing Race 16 9:00 p.m. Undercover Boss 10:00 p.m. Cold Case
THE AMAZING RACE teams continue to race in Chile.
UNDERCOVER BOSS goes to a 7-11 this week.
NBC 7:00 p.m. 2010 Winter Olympics
FOX 7:00pm.’Til Death (2 episodes) 8:00pm.The Simpsons 8:30pm.The Cleveland Show 9:00pm.Family Guy 9:30pm.American Dad
Discovery: 8pm ET/PT: King Tut Unwrapped
HBO: 9PM: Big Love
That’s a wrap for this week.
