Whatever Will I Watch Tonight? - Sunday, February 11, 2007

Next Sunday (mark those calendars now) will be the season premiere of The Amazing Race 11: All Stars. You know I'll be there! Or, more precisely, here... as I watch and write about the show's happenings!

That's not to say there isn't some interesting television going on tonight. No-sir-ree, Bob -- tonight looks like a pretty good TV kind of night!

The big show for the night is The 49th Annual Grammy Awards on CBS, starting at 8 PM ET/PT. I'm sure to at least watch the opening of the show with the much talked-about reunion of The Police. Heck, I still love my Synchronicity. NBC is airing a new Grease: You're the One I Want starting at 7 PM ET/PT running for two hours. That's not one I want; I haven't seen an episode yet. ABC has a new Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in the 8 PM slot. The CW Network has a new episode of 7th Heaven. FOX has new Simpsons and King of the Hill.

In the 9 PM ET/PT time slot, the Grammy Awards will still be ongoing, of course. On NBC, I'll be tuning into The Apprentice: L.A., posting the boot in an East Coast Update, then posting the review/recap of the episode later in the night. ABC has a new episode of Desperate Housewives (please feel free to use the DH Blog Meet Up Discussion post to chat about the show). CW has a repeat of Beauty and the Geek. FOX is airing new episodes of Family Guy and American Dad.

Come 10 PM ET/PT, NBC has a new Crossing Jordan, ABC has a new Brothers & Sisters, CW and FOX have local news, and that big awards show should still be going strong. I'll probably either have the Grammy Awards or Crossing Jordan on in the background as I write up my Apprentice for the week.

What are your television plans for the evening?

Pants for Dummies - This Week on 'The Late Show with David Letterman' - Feb. 12-16, 2007

It was such a hit in the fall that he's doing it all over again. Yep, you got it! It's Ventriloquist Week once again on The Late Show with David Letterman. Yes, it's those lovable dummies and those who breathe life into them. Well, er... that sounds like an old episode of The Twilight Zone. Hey, maybe it is. You never know. I'd kind of like to see Tap Dancers Week, myself.

Here are the guests we can expect to see this week on the Big Show:

• Monday, Feb. 12: Ventriloquist Kevin Johnson with Clyde and Matilda, Drew Barrymore promoting the movie Music & Lyrics, Rickie Lee Jones whose latest CD is The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard. Ah, this show sounds like a winner. You can't go wrong with Clyde and Matilda! Plus, there's that whole history-thing going on between Drew and David.
• Tuesday, Feb. 13: Stand-Up Ventriloquist Dan Horn, football player Peyton Manning, and musical guest The Cat Empire.
• Wednesday, Feb. 14: Ventriloquist Otto Peterson with George, Martha Stewart, and Norah Jones (CD is Not Too Late). Another good line-up. I'm sure Dave is so happy that I approve, eh?
• Thursday, Feb. 15: Ventriloquist Jim Barber with Seville (is that like the Barbers of Seville?), Siena Miller promoting Factory Girl, and NAS whose CD is Hip Hop is Dead. Is it? Probably not.
• Friday, Feb. 16: Ventriloquist Brad Cummings and Tracy Morgan from 30 Rock. Comedian Jake Johannsen is also on the docket.

Okay, now that I have the listing finished, I have a gripe. While I really like the overhaul of the new Late Show website, it's missing Tuesday and some of the guests. What's up with that?

Whatever Will I Watch Tonight? - Saturday, February 10, 2007

Saturday night television programming tends to be slim pickings at times. For the last few years some networks pick the evening to repeat episodes of shows from earlier in the week. That can be helpful at times, although now most can also be found online at the various network sites. Tonight would be a good night to repeat this week's Lost Guide or the premiere... or Survivor: Fiji premiere... but it ain't gonna happen.

If you're a NASCAR fan, then FOX is your honey tonight. I can't even watch my guilty pleasure show COPS due to the NASCAR coverage. (Sniffle.) NBC has a Dateline repeat. ABC has the Charlie Brown Valentine special followed by the Pooh Valentine show. CW has American Idol Rewind scheduled. I think I'll have that on during the 8 PM ET/PT hour while reading. I believe my book will get more attention than my television.

Argh! My Saturday 9 PM time slot has been set as of late as I've been watching The Wire on BET. I'm addicted to the series and, since I don't have HBO, it's all new to me. I don't see it on the schedule as the second hour of the movie 48 Hours is slated! CBS has the recent Cold Case repeat while NBC has the Law and Order: SVU repeat. ABC is airing the Steve Martin/Queen Latifah movie Bringing Down the House. That's not a bad movie if you haven't seen it before, but I have and don't want to see it again. The CW Network has American Idol Rewind.

Come 10 PM ET/PT, there's actually some new programming! CBS has a new 48 Hours Mystery scheduled. I'll probably give that a gander -- sometimes I like the show, sometimes not... it depends on the case covered. NBC has the repeat of this week's Law and Order: Criminal Intent, which I saw already this week. ABC is continuing the movie. TLC has a new Trading Spaces.

Grr... I'm not even seeing The Wire at 1 AM, its repeat time. There is a new Saturday Night Live on, though. I've pretty much given up on SNL. Tonight looks like a book-reading kind of night for me. How about you?

TV Newsy Bits - Friday, February 9, 2007

Brrr! Brrr! As you may or may not know, where I live hasn't made it up to the freezing point in over a week. This morning, neither did my apartment. Well, I exaggerate a bit. The temperature in here was in the 40s (F) as the building's boiler apparently decided to go whimper in the corner or something.

Thankfully, Zoetawny created a fireplace Newsy Bits graphic for me. And, more thankfully, the heat's on again... but I wouldn't call it warm in here. It's slowly creeping up to a normal temperature, though.

So... what do you all think of the sudden death of Anna Nicole Smith? What a shocker, eh? A train friend told me about it as I headed home from work last night. In some ways, I'm not surprised. I think her life was such a series of highs and lows and, especially since her son died, everything may have caught up with her. I wasn't necessarily a fan of hers, but she sure was a part of pop culture. It's a sad ending. Now Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband is claiming that her baby is his. Yikes.

In other TV Newsy Bits:

• One of the candidates from The Apprentice: L.A. dropped me a note about my Lost review/recap. He only briefly mentioned the Apprentice reviews. Since he's still on the show and didn't post to the Lost entry publicly, I won't reveal the name. But I will ask him for some sort of interview after either he gets fired or wins it all. After all, now I have his email address!
• I heard more from Primatech Paper. Apparently the two files I couldn't open before now can be accessed. When I check them out, I'll report back.
• According to an article on Reality TV World, it seems FOX itself blocked Akron Watson's golden ticket to Hollywood, not the producers of American Idol. An excerpt: "We are informed at the end of the day [by Fox] that you can't invite this person or persons, and we don't ask why," Lythgoe told reporters during a conference call on Thursday, according to Newsday. "To be frank, we're not interested [in why]. If Fox believes it will damage the show... then it's best they just don't come along." They also explain why his segment stayed in the auditions show. Hmmm... the plot thickens.
• Celebrity Spider is reporting that last night's Survivor 14: Fiji premiere won the ratings race in its time period, beating out Ugly Betty.
  
• In Big Brother news, the Jokers Updates site has what it says is the last chat transcript we'll see from Marcellas Reynolds. Do you think it's the last we'll see of him? Oh, well, I have a white robe which reminds me of him and there's a guy named Boo (as opposed to a gnome named Boo) on Survivor. I'll live.
• We haven't seen the last of George Takei on Heroes. Inside Pulse has an extensive interview with him.
  

'Survivor 14: Fiji' - Season Premiere -or- "Yau-Man, Sea Snakes and Luxury!"

It's a Survivor start unlike any we've seen before.

Now, we're a bit cognizant of what was to happen because of the Internet. But, even knowing bits and pieces ahead of time, I was still almost as dazed and confused as the castaways more than halfway into the show.

That's good, of course. I've watched every season and so many premiere episodes just didn't hit the mark with me even if the season redeemed itself as it unfolded.

Jeff expounded on the dangers of the island and the isolation, citing those as reasons a castaway dropped out shortly before being sent to the island. With the odd number of nineteen, the castaways all headed to shore together. Instead of being split into teams or hearing from Jeff, they found a set of blueprints for setting up a shelter, kitchen, toilet and more. Oh, they also had tools. Nature provided lots of fruit and they were eager to explore.

One castaway, Sylvia, is an architect. So she took over the shelter-building directions. I thought she was slightly pushy, but the castaways took to her direction fairly well. I think that since she actually knew what she was doing, that helped not to alienate the others.

Even with the supplies, directions and such, they still didn't finish their shelter on the first night and the heavens broke loose with a storm. That gave them a bit of incentive to get their butts in gear and get the job done.

By the third day, all nineteen were still together -- a tribe without a name, castaways without a cause. Other than the scroll with the blueprints, they had been given no information about what they could expect. They kept thinking Jeff would show up and they kept bonding as time went on. There was a tad of anti-bonding between Andre (who wants to be called "Dreamz") and James (who wants to be called "Rocky," but some call him "Boston"). For the most part, they all got along.

Jeff showed up during Day 3, quizzing the castaways about who came forward as a leader. When Sylvia was mentioned, he called her aside and told her she would pick the tribes. Her choices:

• Green Tribe - Moto: Cassandra, Liliana, Stacy, Lisi, Dreamz, Boo, Gary (Papa Smurf), Alex, Edgardo
• Orange Tribe - Ravu: Michelle, Erica, Rita, Jessica, Rocky, Earl, Yau-Man, Anthony, Mookie

As she was odd woman out, Sylvia was sent to Exile Island. Jeff told her she can expect poisonous sea snakes, a clue to one of two hidden Immunity Idols, and immunity from the next Tribal Council. She would return after the Tribal Council and join the losing tribe.

The Immunity Challenge was a mix of similar challenges in the past, but not quite done before. Two members of each tribe were in a chariot pulled by the remaining tribe members. They had to travel about a quarter of a mile, picking up bags of puzzle pieces as they went along. Once the bags were collected, four members had to solve a puzzle, spin a puzzle wheel, retrieve a machete, and cut a rope to release their flag. Sounds a bit familiar, eh?

Jeff told them that the winning team would also win luxuries including dinnerware and even a couch! The losing team would not only go to Tribal Council and lose a member, but would be sent to a new beach where they would have only one pot and one machete. Moto won the challenge.

While Ravu talked about who to vote out, Sylvia found the clue on Exile Island. It indicated that the Idol was hid nearby the camp. So, there wasn't much else she could do but avoid the deadly sea snakes and bide her time.

A quasi-alliance had formed between Rocky, Erica, and Jessica. While everyone basically liked each other, they decided to push for a Michelle vote. All of the others were thinking Jessica should go as she was a part of why the team lost (slow on the puzzle). In the end, their three votes were scattered and it was indeed Jessica voted off.

Now that's out of the way, what do I think?

I think the players to watch or, more accurately, the ones I like are: Yau-Man, Earl, Michelle, and Sylvia (if she doesn't continue to lead). I'm still iffy about most of them. Yau-Man should be careful as he's showing how strong he is, perhaps not physically, but mentally and in the knowledge of the area. That could swing him through to the merge, at least. I think Rocky/James started out better than I thought he would, but I think he's going to self-implode. I'm straddling the fence on Erica. She could be very strong, but I think latching onto James is sort of like taking a long walk off a short pier.

Overall, I'm content with the start of this season. I think we're in for a good one. Your thoughts?