TOP CHEF DC: I was a little bored with last night’s episode (a sign of the overall lackluster season) but I’m elated that the supremely annoying cheftestant is finally gone! Now it’s time for Inept Chef Amanda to go.
LEWIS BLACK REVIEWS “EAT PRAY LOVE”: Click to www.thedailyshow.com and then click “Back In Black: Eat Pray Love” – you can thank me later.
MSNBC COVERAGE: Richard Engel deserves a hearty round of applause for his coverage in Iraq and Afghanistan. Last night, he was with troops who were leaving Iraq and together with Rachel Maddow, their coverage was simply terrific.
REALLY GOOD RUMOR OF THE DAY: E.W.’s Michael Ausiello is reporting NBC may want Josh Holloway for the lead role of Jim Rockford in THE ROCKFORD FILES update. This would be a very very good thing as Holloway is pretty near perfect for the role so let’s all cross our fingers that this happens.
LOUIE: The “Bully” episode airing this week was the best episode to date and had so many brilliant moments, I can hardly contain myself. Louie takes a woman out on a date, it’s going well. They go to one of Louie’s haunts, a donut shop, to get coffee after dinner. While there, Louie is harassed by a teenage kid who asks him the last time he had his ass kicked. Louie avoids getting in a fight and when he tries to explain himself to his date, the evening takes a nosedive. So Louie follows the bullying teen home to Staten Island and talks to the kid’s parents. Again, the honesty of this show is relentless, wise, sad and moving. Louis CK is truly writing what he knows and it’s a treat to watch him do the show he was clearly meant to do. Huge applause to everyone at FX for supporting this show and giving Louis CK room to run.
PILOT TALK: CBS
S#&T MY DAD SAYS – Liked the first act but the show ran outta gas at the act break. There’s no denying Shatner is fun to watch and it’s hard for me to bet against Kohan & Mutchnick; they’re sharp joke guys and they tend to surround themselves with talented writers too. As most of you know already, the role of the son has been recast; Jonathan Sadowski now has the role.
HAWAII 5-0 – A gorgeous looking pilot that made the most of their production dollars. The Hawaiian scenery is complemented by the beauty of Alex O’Loughlin, Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park. Scott Caan isn’t part of the pretty factor but his dry sense of humor makes him an integral part of the show. O’Loughlin’s Steve McGarrett is pretty humorless and I found him dull. Good-looking but dull. Caan and Dae Kim are the guys who liven up the show. I’ll probably watch a couple more episodes but it’s pretty clear the show will be a procedural with much better scenery.
MIKE AND MOLLY – At the Summer Press Tour, showrunner Chuck Lorre insisted this show is about “real people dealing with real problems” and not a show about fat people. I’d like to believe him but the pilot I saw is about two overweight people trying to lose weight and there were more fat jokes crammed into 21 minutes than I’ve seen in a long time. Particularly egregious: a scene in which Billy Gardell’s Mike leans on a card table and it collapses. Yeah, hi-larious. To say I’m skeptical about this show would be an understatement. Chuck Lorre pretty much has free reign at CBS and he’s earned it because of TWO AND A HALF MEN and BIG BANG THEORY. That said, I wish I saw more of a show here than a string of fat jokes. I’ll watch a couple more episodes before rendering a verdict.
THE DEFENDERS – Jerry O’Connell and Jim Belushi star as defense lawyers in Vegas, where it is very tough to defend people because the prosecutors are super-aggressive. This show was way more entertaining than I expected and the banter between Belushi and O’Connell works well. Belushi has this great world-weariness and O’Connell does brash, confident and sexy very well. I’m not sure if THE DEFENDERS will become part of my regular rotation but I will definitely watch more episodes.
I haven’t watched BLUE BLOODS or the CRIMINAL MINDS SPINOFF yet.
ON THE DVR: this week’s RESCUE ME and PSYCH.
TODAY’S SURF WRITTEN WHILE LISTENING TO: The acoustic version of Paramore’s “The Only Exception” which proves my inner 14 year old girl is alive and well. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go write in my dream journal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbIwGE2RnJg
Tonight’s rundown:
ABC: Wipeout [R], Rookie Blue, NightlinePrime: Secrets of Your Mind – Why We Do What We Do
NBC: Community [r], 30 Rock [r], The Office [r], Parks & Rec [r], Law & Order: SVU [r]
CBS: Big Brother 12, CSI [r], The Mentalist [r]
FOX: NFL Football: New England at Atlanta
CW: Vampire Diaries [r], Moonlight [r]
Bravo: 9pm: Real Housewives of DC
Comedy Central: 10pm: Futurama
Discovery: 9pm: Pitchmen (new)
Food: 8pm: Extreme Cuisine with Jeff Corwin
Lifetime: 9pm: Project Runway: the designers must design clothes that are compatible with hats by milliner Philip Treacy.
MTV: 10pm: Jersey Shore
TLC: 9pm: American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior
USA: 9pm: Burn Notice, 10pm: Royal Pains
I love that tonight’s episode of ROYAL PAINS is titled “Big Whoop” – I don’t know what it’s about but I love that title.
That’s a wrap for now.
