THE WONDER THAT IS IDRIS ELBA: If you haven’t seen Elba’s really wonderful arc on THE BIG C as Laura Linney’s objet d’affaire because you don’t have Showtime, be sure to click to BBC America on Sunday night and watch him in LUTHER. He plays an intense, driven, anger-management challenged detective who finds himself caught up with a woman who committed a murder but he couldn’t prove it. The woman cunningly makes herself part of his life and it’s a fascinating take on the usual detective procedural. Elba does a 180 from what we saw of him as Stringer Bell and he’s an acting force to be reckoned with. The guy can do anything. LUTHER is a limited, six-episode series airing Sunday nights on BBC America.
JACK HUSTON ON BOARDWALK EMPIRE: Huston made his first appearance in this week’s episode “Home” and it was a very memorable one. His character, Richard Harrow, is a sniper who got half his face shot off in the war. Jimmy Darmody befriends him and at the end of the episode, their friendship is sealed with a favor Harrow does for Darmody. I hope we’ll see more of Harrow because after the favor he did Darmody, it made me think they could easily work together and Harrow could be a complement to Jimmy and Al. I also loved the appearance of Meyer Lansky; I really like that we’re seeing famous gangsters in their younger days. Finally, I loved the story about Nucky, his boyhood home and his daddy issues. It was interesting to see how Nucky took Margaret’s boy with him to look at the refurbished house and then the boy witnessed what Nucky did to the house. I continue to be dazzled by Steve Buscemi’s performance as Nucky; it’s surely going to win him an Emmy.
BORED TO DEATH: I know DUE DATE is coming out at the movies but Zach Galifianakis is also doing terrific work on this funny, quirky show. This week, he helped Jonathan find his ex-girlfriend Leah’s French bulldog Little Ray. Galifianakis underplays almost everything and I think that’s why he’s so good. He never goes big and broad but you see a lot going on behind his eyes. I’m loving this season of the show.
SNL WITH JON HAMM: Disappointing. They usually up their game when Hamm hosts but the only sketches I loved were the BACK TO THE FUTURE auditions – Bill Hader’s Alan Alda impersonation sounds EXACTLY like Alda and Jay Pharoah continues to amaze, this time with his perfect impersonation of Eddie Murphy. I also liked the Vincent Price Halloween party sketch but that’s another one that was all about impersonations.
CHUCK: Love love love Timothy Dalton as Volkoff. Really hoping we’ll see more of him this season.
GOSSIP GIRL: Rachel Zoe AND Joe Zee cameos in last night’s episode were divine but I think everyone melted in the final few minutes when Chuck and Blair proclaimed their hatred for each other and then burned it all down with a seriously hot makeout session that was a little racy even by GG standards. For the record, I still don’t believe Katie Cassidy as a college student and I still don’t know why she and her brother have a vendetta against Serenan – not that I really care either.
SHERLOCK: The new MASTERPIECE MYSTERY: SHERLOCK episodes are terrific. Benedict Cumberbatch is brilliant and captivating in the title role and as always, I love Martin Freeman as the touchy, nervous Holmes. A couple episodes are online now at: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/sherlock/watch.html
THE WALKING DEAD: Are you into the zombie thing? Do you like the show? More than five million viewers tuned in and I’m curious to see how many will come back for this Sunday’s episode. I’m not a big horror/zombie fan so I wasn’t enthralled by the first episode but I’m trying to hang in there because the buzz is uniformly great.
CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL: I’m behind on the show but I wanted to mention that they’re doing a live episode this Sunday November 7. Cartoon Network – check listings for time because the show is only 15 minutes long.
EARLY HEADS UP FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT 11/3: Be sure to watch TERRIERS “Pimp Daddy” episode at 10pm on FX. Donal Logue gives another heart-wrenching performance as Hank tries to deal with his ex-wife Gretchen’s impending marriage to Jason, a seemingly nice guy. But the last thing Hank trusts is a guy who seems nice so he decides to check Jason out. As usual on TERRIERS, the story takes interesting turns and makes the story truly human and compelling. TERRIERS continues to be the best new drama of the fall season.
CIRCUS on PBS premieres - This is a six-hour miniseries focusing on The Big Apple Circus performers and owners: “Over the course of six dramatic hours, the documentary follows the legendary Big Apple Circus on an unforgettable journey from the big top to the “back lot,” where nail-biting drama unfolds both high in the air and down on the ground and the real heart of the circus beats. CIRCUS goes behind the scenes to explore a distinctive world with its own rules and lingo and no fixed address. It reveals the sights, sounds and stories of the circus’ fascinating cultural legacy in unprecedented breadth and scope as viewers escape into a place of passion, excitement, perseverance and even heartache. From the training and rehearsals to the bravery and the intensity of life — and work — in the circus, the cameras capture it all. Grab a front-row seat as members of the Big Apple family experience life-changing moments.”
TODAY’S SURF WRITTEN WHILE LISTENING TO: The Magnetic Fields’ “You Must Be Out of Your Mind” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77gy-2UUA-c
Tonight’s rundown: Election returns pre-empt most primetime programming tonight. No new episodes of NO ORDINARY FAMILY, GLEE or THE GOOD WIFE tonight.
ABC: 8:00 p.m. Dancing with the Stars (90-minutes) 9:30 p.m. ABC News: Vote 2010
Taylor Swift and Rod Stewart perform on DWTS tonight.
CBS: 8:00 p.m. NCIS (R) 9:00 p.m. NCIS: Los Angeles (R) 10:00 p.m. CBS News – Election Coverage
NBC: 8:00 p.m. The Biggest Loser 9:00 p.m. NBC News – Election Night 2010
FOX: 8:00 p.m. Glee (R) 9:00 p.m. America’s Election Headquarters
THE CW: 8:00 p.m. One Tree Hill 9:00 p.m. Life Unexpected –NOTE: IN LOS ANGELES, KTLA WILL CARRY ELECTION RETURNS INSTEAD OF CW SHOWS.
BRAVO: 9PM: Millionaire Matchmaker, 10pm: Kathy Griffin: Whores on Crutches (special)
COMEDY CENTRAL: Live Election Night coverage with Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and the entire DAILY SHOW team. Historian Michael Beschloss is Jon Stewart’s guest.
FX: 10pm: Sons of Anarchy
DISCOVERY: 9pm: Dirty Jobs, 10pm: Auction Kings
MTV: 10pm: 16 and Pregnant
OXYGEN: 10pm: Running Russell Simmons
This reality show follow Simmons and his assistants as they go about running his day to day businesses, family life and party planning. I think I need to check this show out.
SYFY: 9pm: Stargate Universe
That’s a wrap for now.
