What To Watch: Thursdays

Previously, on TNRLM's What To Watch: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

It doesn't matter if you are a network executive, a showrunner, a media buyer or a viewer. You might want to rework the U2 anthem to be "Thursday, Bloody Thursday," because the pile up of shows on this, the weekday's most watched night, is going to epic. Thursday has long been a high traffic, high profile night (remember "Must See TV?"), but this year, each and every network (along with some cablers) is pushing their chips to the center and saying "all in." There's probably a little blood in the water, as one of the highest rated shows in recent memory, CBS's CSI: Original Recipe, showed signs of slowing down last year with the departure of star William Peterson.

So what to do here? Probably push your TiVo to the limit, and make some concessions about what to watch at home, what to watch online, and what to catch on DVD.

Show	Net	Day	Time	Priority
Bones	FOX	THU	800	Watch
Flash Forward	ABC	THU	800	Watch
CSI	CBS	THU	900	DVR
Fringe	FOX	THU	900	Watch
Supernatural	CW	THU	900	Watch
The Office	NBC	THU	900	DVR
30 Rock	NBC	THU	930	DVR
Community	NBC	THU	930	DVR
It's Always Sunny in Philly	FX	THU	1000	Watch
The Mentalist	CBS	THU	1000	DVR

Bones: Bones has steadily grown in its time on the air, and become a nice little Moonlighting-esque crime show rounded out by a talented supporting cast. However, there were some serious missteps this past year, culminating with one of the worst season finales I've ever witnessed (if you watch the show, you know what I'm talking about, but suffice to say, an overly complicated coma dream sequence combined with a visualization of a novel in progress that results in character development that doesn't really happen is not how you want to cap off an up and down season). During the season, Booth had several hallucinations (the ghost of a dead war buddy, a hockey player, Stewie from Family Guy) that could have been ultimately explained by his brain tumor. Yet in the episode with the "ghost," the writer/director made a conscious decision to have Brennan actually see and interact with the damned "ghost." How can people, on a non-supernatural show, share a brain tumor created hallucination? Yikes. So, I'll give Bones a shot at explaining some of this away and getting back on track, but it's on a short TiVo leash.

Flash Forward: Interesting premise. Everyone on Earth blacks out for two minutes, seventeen seconds (expected cataclysmic chaos ensues), and has a "vision" of their future, six months from that point. Too high concept? Not sure, but it has an appealing cast, including Joseph Fiennes, John Cho, Jack Davenport, Peyton List (Roger Sterling's new bride!), Courtney B. Vance and Lost's Dominic Monoghan and Sonya Walger. It's based on a novel by Robert Sawyer, but will depart dramatically from the book (though it has the blessing of Sawyer, who will also contribute scripts to the show).

CSI: Still the best of the CSIs (though that's not saying much these days), this old warhorse went through some serious upheaval. Peterson left, and was replaced (awkwardly) by Laurence Fishburne. Great actor, but I'm not sure his character "clicked" with the rest of the cast. Jorja Fox, who I can't stand to watch, also left the show, but apparently, she will be returning in some capacity this season. One of the few new characters they introduced, Lauren Lee Smith's Riley, leaves the show, which I view as a loss. Still, the writing here is sharp (with plenty of geek scribes on staff, including some from Trek and BSG -- the murder at a sci-fi convention was a highlight last year) and the "lab rats" are consistently amusing. I'll probably keep my season pass, albeit on a secondary DVR (or west coast feed).

Fringe: Like most new shows, Fringe had problems figuring out a consistent tone and style of storytelling during its freshmen debut. However, it got much, much better as the season progressed, and it features one of best casts on TV, anchored by Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, Blair Brown, Lance Reddick and Emmy worthy scene stealer John Noble as a literal mad scientist. (Many critics were divided on Torv, but I think she played what they gave her beautifully). Spock himself, the legendary Leonard Nimoy, will build on his cameo at the end of season one as the mysterious William Bell, and the reveal of an "alternate reality universe" gives this tech-driven X-Files for a new generation plenty upon which to build new mysteries and thrills.

Supernatural: I was late the Winchester brothers party, and caught up last year via a DVD binge, but it was well worth it. (Noted TV critics Mo Ryan and Matt Roush did the same thing). I had initially dismissed the show as yet another featherweight CW teen pander, but boy, was I wrong. Supernatural is a worthy heir to the mantle of shows (like Buffy, Angel, Lost and the X-Files) that effectively and creatively blend thrills, chills, scares and laughs with moving long term storytelling. You'll be on the edge of your seat one moment, then laughing your ass off the next. This year, the show adds to its usual classic rock and monsters sensibility by letting Lucifer walk the earth engaging in an apocalyptic showdown with militant angels. Fun!!

The Office / 30 Rock: The Office is one of those rare shows to effectively handle the "will they or won't they" romantic tension between the leads in a logical and appealing way. Jim and Pam got together, got engaged, and are expecting. While this is great news for the shippers, it puts me on alert, since nothing kills a show for me more than pregnancies and kids. Still, it's very well written and acted, and I'll likely keep it around until the Babies R Us stuff becomes unbearable. As for 30 Rock, no show on TV has a higher laugh per minute ratio.

Community: A new show, headlined by The Soup! snarkmeister Joel McHale and Chevy Chase, looks subversively promising.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Another show I missed originally, and caught via the power of reruns and the interwebs, but will be adding to the season pass list without hesitation. Sunny isn't for everyone -- the characters are all hilariously self-absorbed and amoral. Take a look through the list of episode titles (which include "The Gang Gets Racist," "Mac Bangs Dennis' Mom," "The Gang Finds a Dumpster Baby" and "Sweet Dee's Dating a Retarded Person") and see for yourself if this appeals to your sensibilities. It certainly does mine, and holy shit is this show laugh out loud funny.

The Mentalist: This was last year's highest rated new show, and it finally made a bona fide TV star out of Aussie Simon Baker (after failed attempts with The Guardian and the sadly little watched Smith). As the wits on USA's Psych like to mock (deservedly so), The Mentalist is basically straight crime procedural version of the former show. Is it "must see" TV? Probably not. Is it one of the better and more engaging crime dramas on? Probably so. Baker is a charming lead, and the supporting cast plays well together. There's room enough on my TiVo for two fake psychic detectives (even if both of them aren't fascinated with pineapples and 80s pop culture references).

Whew. I can smell the DVR overheating now.

TV Quickies

USA's In Plain Sight is a mildly entertaining diversion, but the best reason to watch that show continues to be the droll wit of Fred Weller's Marshall Mann sidekick. Oh, and the show's creator is leaving after this season, and doesn't sound exactly happy about it. At least he's taking Jinx with him.

Speaking of mildly entertaining summer diversions, I like the cast of Leverage, but can't for the life of me figure out Beth Riesgraf. She's either one of the worst actors on television who can't facially convey normal human emotions in any scene she's in, particularly when she's not the center of focus, OR she's absolutely brilliant, giving her somewhat mysterious and off kilter character perplexing line readings and throwing exaggeratedly muggy (and adorable) expressions from her visage.

The Dollhouse DVD is fantastic. "Epitaph One" is truly the mind-blowing revelation you've heard about, and pulls brilliant, heartbreaking performances out of everyone involved (especially Topher!). And the original pilot is much, much better than the aired pilot, with 100% less head-scratching hostage negotiation. The special features are entertaining, and similar to what you've seen on other Whedon discs. (I hope to catch the commentaries later this week).

I had a coupon for a free movie on DirecTV on demand, and used it on the third Underworld movie. If you're going to watch a silly, blue tinted movie about the emancipation of werewolves, it certainly helps to have thespians Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy around to chew scenery and class up the place a bit. (Pouty Rhona Mitra as an undead kickass princess doesn't hurt, either).

The Burn Notice finale was great, though I did think they wasted too much time this season with the woefully miscast Moon Bloodgood as Det. Paxson. Some online reaction was surprising, in that people complained (SPOILER) that Michael shot Strickler "in cold blood." First, Strickler had a gun on him, so it wasn't exactly "cold blood," and second, I was glad that Michael took direct action against a rather unsavory character. Too often on Burn Notice, the bad guys wind up arrested or humiliated or driven out of town. I think that someone with Michael's background wouldn't hesitate to put someone down if they needed putting down, unless the act itself interfered with completion of the mission or hampered his long term plans. And while he was killing things that needed killing, he could have shot all the Irish accents that came out of a community theatre production of Darby O'Gill and the Little People.

Similarly, I've been catching up on Bruce Campbell's one season cult classic Brisco County Jr., which is a trippy Wild Wild West like show combining frontier adventure with dollops of sci-fi (it was co-created by Lost EP Carlton Cuse, if that tells you something). It's a fun show, particularly for fans of The Chin, but I think at the time it might have played things for the kids too much, since hardly anyone ever gets shot - on a show full of bounty hunters and quick-drawing gunslingers.

I also decided to pick up some reruns of Sons of Anarchy on FX, and after the first two eps, I have to say it's quite intriguing. Don't know why I missed this first time around, but it shows quite a bit of promise.

Speaking of FX, I think I've mentioned this before, but I blazed through the entire series run of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and it's got to be one of subversively funniest things I've ever seen. It's absolutely, gloriously politically incorrect, and for that, I love its shriveled, dark heart.

Warehouse 13, SyFy's new (Bones + X-Files / The Librarian x Friday the 13th: The Series) show, gets better each and every week. It's really well cast and a lot of fun, though the writing (and plot machinations) could use some tightening.

So, Paula Abdul is off American Idol. To which I say, thank Zeus. Look, the other two chair fillers to Simon's right are just as inept. Randy is a self-absorbed ("Did you know I worked with Mariah, dawg? And I toured with Journey?") fountain of idiotic catch phrases ("for me, for you" "molten hot" "work it out" "aiight" "dawg") that doesn't do a think to elevate the contestant critiques. Given her background in the industry and CV, I had hopes for Kara. But whether it was her role as the "fourth wheel" on a panel that tended to drone on already (when it wasn't interrupted by witless audience reaction, wasting even more time in already overstuffed shows), the criminally incompetent directing and production that actually reduced the meaningful content of the shows (the singing) while allowing it to consistently bloat beyond all reason and fuck with DVRs all across America, or her own cosmic gift for malaprops (Studio 57, for example) and incoherence ("early" Aerosmith and "artistry"), she didn't exactly make a great first impression. Still, given a choice of whom to boot among Kara, Randy and Paula, I would have given Paula the pink slip. The former have more "credibility" on their actual resumes than Paula, a performer never known for her "vocals" (or production or songwriting) anyway. And I prefer my entertainment scripted if I want to watch someone strung out on pills (Greg House), verbally incomprehensible (Tracy Jordan) or endearingly supportive (Hurley). Personally, I would have wiped out all the judges sans Simon and started over, but hopefully, given the contract situations, that can be taken care of after next season. (Kara had a one year option picked up, and Randy is signed through next year). Almost anyone would be better. What about Elton John? Jody Watley? Susanna Hoffs? Or my personal choice, Harry Connick Jr. (mentioned back in a 2008 "how to fix Idol" post, along with some other fixes for common Idol problems). Initially the silver lining (inside of the gold lining of 86ing the less intellectually gifted half of the duo who sang "Opposites Attract") in all this was that we'd be back to a somewhat more streamlined panel of three, instead of the performance eradicating blight and bloat of four that submarined much of this last season. However, the producers have stated that they plan to press on with four judges in a yet to be determined fashion, whether it be with a permanent replacement or rotating guest judges (such as they're doing early on with Posh Spice and Katy Perry). Sigh.