30 ROCK: I busted a gut during last night’s episode, I was laughing that hard. “Don Geiss, America and Hope” was, I think, the funniest episode of this hit or miss season. Everything was firing on all cylinders last night though, whether it was Tracy trying to live up to his sexually aggressive reputation in order to keep his endorsements, Liz constantly running into Wesley Snipes (Michael Sheen’s hilariously named prickly Brit) and Jack learning about the company’s new owners, Kabletown. The Kabletown schedule was quite possibly the best joke but I can’t reprint the show titles here because I keep The Surf Report clean. If you want to see the Kabletown grid, click to: http://www.beaucoupkevin.com/blog/the-kabletown-on-screen-guide-from-last-nights-30-rock/2010/03/19/
PARKS AND REC: Last night’s PARKS AND REC was especially strong. The story focused on Jerry – and you had to love Ron saying, “Jerry is both the shlemiel AND the shemazel in our office.” I also have to give props to Andy Samberg for a very funny guest shot as the very loud but lovable park ranger Carl. Perfect casting and Samberg added major laughs. I have to admit, though I wasn’t an Andy fan at first, I love Andy and April slowly getting together. They really work well together. Oh, does anyone know where I can sign up for self-defense lessons with Ron F–king Swanson? Lemme know. Thanks!
THE OFFICE: Not worth talking about as it was a lackluster episode that didn’t make me laugh. It felt like they were trying to do a GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS parody but it never came together.
FLASH FORWARD: I watched last night’s two hour return. Though they’re trying to push through more story, there’s still no really satisfying payoff. We learned Ricky Jay’s character was only a middleman so now we have to wait around for the real criminals to reveal themselves. I still find Joe Fiennes’ whispery performance distracting and silly and I’m not sure I buy him going out on his own without his badge and gun to find Lloyd Simcoe. While I love Dominic Monaghan, his Simon character is just plain irritating. Last but not least, I hate that Janis, the female FBI agent, is quite possibly the dumbest, most unobservant FBI agent ever as she falls for some of the oldest evasion tricks in the book such as when Simon faked being allergic to penicillin to get away from her and then when he said he was going to take a shower and he climbed out a window to get away again. I think I’m done with this show.
JON STEWART NAILS IT – AGAIN: Watch his perfect send-up of Glenn Beck:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-march-18-2010/conservative-libertarian
SMART NEWS DEAL: ABC News closed a deal with Christiane Amanpour to host THIS WEEK. Amanpour’s international news background as well as her keen intelligence will surely give the show a boost. Great hire!
DUMB TV DEAL: There are reports that A&E may make a deal with Sarah Palin for a reality show. Honestly, can this woman be interesting for anything longer than a soundbite written on her hand? I don’t think so. Talk about a waste of money and airtime.
SUNDAY NIGHT HIGHLIGHTS: The new nature miniseries LIFE premieres on Discovery and it’s from the same people who produced the lushly shot, gorgeously photographed PLANET EARTH. Over on ABC, John Barrowman makes his debut on DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES; he’ll be doing an arc on the show and I’ll tune in just to watch him. On AMC, BREAKING BAD returns and the season premiere deals with the core issue of Walt finally explaining to wife Skyler exactly what he does for a living. Tonally, the season premiere is amazing and there’s some of the most startling imagery of the Albuquerque landscape which is used to great effect. The pacing of the season premiere is a little faster than usual, which is a good thing and I hope they stick to that for the entire season. If you want to catch up on the show, tune in to AMC Saturday morning at 8pmPT/11amET for a BREAKING BAD marathon that starts at the beginning of the show.
EARLY HEADS UP FOR MONDAY 3/22: NURSE JACKIE and THE UNITED STATES OF TARA return Monday night at 10pm and 1030pm respectively to start new seasons. I’m a huge fan of NURSE JACKIE, not as much of a fan of TARA as I think it’s a one trick pony show and that pony is already tired. I’ve seen the first three episodes of NURSE JACKIE and they are as tough and wonderful as Edie Falco’s performance. There are major changes that are believable and unnerving. I strongly recommend NURSE JACKIE as Falco continues to be one of the finest actresses working today and she owns this role every bit as much as she owned Carmela Soprano. And yes, Jackie does have to deal with the consequences of her actions at the end of last season. That’s all I’ll say before it airs.
TODAY’S SURF WRITTEN WHILE LISTENING TO: Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings “Ain’t No Chimneys in the Projects”
http://www.myspace.com/sharonjonesandthedapkings
Time for your weekend rundown:
Tonight – Friday 3/19/10
ABC: 8:00 p.m. Thin Ice 9:00 p.m. 20/20 10:00 p.m. 20/20
CBS: 8:00 p.m. 2010 NCAA Basketball – First Round, Day 1
NBC: 8:00 p.m. Who Do You Think You Are? 9:00 p.m. Dateline (two hours)
FOX: 8:00 p.m. House (R) 9:00 p.m. Kitchen Nightmares
THE CW: 8:00 p.m. America’s Next Top Model (R) 9:30 p.m. High Society (R)
Comedy Central: 11pm: Donald Glover’s first comedy special airs tonight.
E!: 10pm: The Soup – Carol Leifer stops by tonight’s show and I hear there are some other special guests too.
HBO: Tonight’s guests on Real Time with Bill Maher include Melinda Henneberger, Steve Moore, Gavin Newsom, Emile Hirsch and Dennis Kucinich.
Starz: Spartacus: Blood and Sand
Syfy: 9pm: Caprica
Saturday 3/20/10
ABC: 8:00 p.m. FlashForward (R) 9:00 p.m. FlashForward (R) 10:00 p.m. Castle (R)
CBS: 8:00 p.m. 2010 NCAA Basketball – Second Round, Day 1
NBC: 8:00 p.m. The Biggest Loser (R) 9:00 p.m. Law & Order (R) 10:00 p.m. Law & Order: SVU (R)
SNL is a repeat of the Sigourney Weaver / Ting Tings show.
FOX: 8:00 p.m. Cops (original and repeat) 9:00 p.m. America’s Most Wanted
Sunday 3/21/10
ABC: 7:00 p.m. Thin Ice 8:00 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 9:00 p.m. Desperate Housewives 10:00 p.m. Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution (series premiere)
JAMIE OLIVER’S FOOD REVOLUTION: Produced by the ubiquitous Ryan Seacrest, Brit chef Jamie Oliver travels to Huntington, West Virginia (“the unhealthiest city in America”) to start an initiative to improve eating habits. The regularly scheduled time period is Fridays at 9pm beginning March 26. Jamie Oliver gave an incredible talk at the recent TED conference about children’s eating habits which ties directly into what he’s doing in this show – take a look at that speech – it’s well-researched, heartfelt and tremendously effective: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go_QOzc79Uc
CBS: 7:00 p.m. 60 Minutes 8:00 p.m. The Amazing Race 9:00 p.m. Undercover Boss 10:00 p.m. Cold Case
NBC: 7:00 p.m. Dateline 8:00 p.m. Minute to Win It 9:00 p.m. Celebrity Apprentice
FOX: 7:00 p.m. ‘Til Death 7:30 p.m. ‘Til Death 8:00 p.m. The Simpsons 8:30 p.m. The Cleveland Show 9:00 p.m. Family Guy 9:30 p.m. Sons of Tucson
AMC: 10PM: Breaking Bad season premiere
A&E: 9pm: Gene Simmons Family Jewels season premiere 10PM: Kirstie Alley’s Big Life season premiere (2 episodes)
I don’t watch Gene Simmons but I know some of you like him. I find him unwatchable.
As for Kirstie Alley’s new show, she’s on another quest to lose weight and the show is about that as well as Alley raising her two kids and her work as an animal rights activist.
Discovery: 8pm: Life (series premiere) from the makers of PLANET EARTH. Oprah narrates.
That’s a wrap for this week.
