Greetings TV viewers! Welcome to another week of TV or Not TV where we will turn our eye to the Eye network and peruse their offerings for the fall season.
Since I am a TV critic who has no TV critic clout I will be reviewing this season based on their one minute previews that are available over at CBS.com (hey, it’s all I have to work with). My criteria for all shows that you see me discussing will be: concept, cast and preview feedback.
Gary Unmarried – Jay Mohr is playing a newly divorced father who has to contend with kids, an ex-wife and the dating world. I’ve always been a fan of Jay Mohr so the show, which will be appropriately paired with The New Adventures of Old Christine, will at least get a viewing or two out of me. We’ve all seen the concept before so it will really come down to the writers and Mohr to carry the show.
The preview was a very bland example that was chuckle worthy. It makes me concerned that Mohr may just be phoning this one in so that he gets his check from his development deal.
The Ex-List – A woman is told by a palm reader that she has one year to find her one true love, which was someone that she formerly dated. Sounds like a somewhat interesting concept because you could have a limitless list of people that she dated, and with only 22 episodes a year you could pull of at least four years of episodes before the ‘in-show’ year is up. The concept itself is also limiting for the exact same reasons. The case, for me, is practically unknown so not much to draw me in there.
The preview was showed us NOTHING about the show itself. The lead character goes back to the palm reader for clarification on the terms of this prediction. It comes and goes like the wind.
Worst Week – Kyle Bornheimer plays Sam Briggs is planning a wedding and has a baby on the way. The problem? His ultra-conservative father-in-law to be (Kurtwood Smith) has no idea of any of this and Sam is a one man disaster every time he visits. It’s Meet the Parents without the lie detector. Can the concept hold up for 22 episodes AND more than one season? I’d doubt it.
The cast on this show is great. Bornheimer recently had a great string of cell phone commercials making incredibly awkward and funny phone messages to ladies, so this role is clearly written for him. Smith is great in all he does.
The preview, again, is very weak. I wonder who at CBS planned these out. We see the payoff to a joke (without seeing the joke) of Briggs in a plastic diaper having to borrow cab fare. Poor choice.
The Mentalist – A former psychic medium, who now admits his skills of observation and deduction were his ‘powers’, is now a detective using his skills to solve cases even if the rest of the investigative team doesn’t like him. The concept appears to be Psych but with more drama than laughs. Even with that type of change the concept intrigues me.
Simon Baker plays the lead and has the looks and charisma to carry the part. He’s surrounded by plenty of FOX television show alumni (Amanda Righetti, Robin Tunney) so cast wise this one is pretty solid.
The preview is by far one of the only good ones that CBS offers up. We see the strength of the character, the personality of the character, and we get a taste of the conflict within the investigative team. This is one of the few previews that made me really want to see the show.
Eleventh Hour: Dr. Jacob Hood (Rufus Sewell of The Illusionist) investigates science crises and oddities. His jurisdiction is absolute and he is always called in as the last line of defense in his pursuit of those that would abuse and misuse scientific discoveries or breakthroughs for their own gain. Lost? So am I?
This show is based on a British mini-series written by Stephen Gallagher and has been imported by uber-producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Sewell has a very creepy vibe that really throws me off, so not sure about the casting.
The preview was absolutely dreadful. We see Hood brought in on what is clearly someone trying to perform cloning, but it gives us very little and gives me no desire at all to watch.
So, what have we learned from all this? I think that the first thing is you can’t provide a 60 second preview of a show and hope that it gives enough interest or buzz. If you are going to try to provide a 60 second preview make sure it actually has some substance instead of what comes off more as just a completely random offering.
Now that we talked about what is to come, let’s talk more about what is to come.
MONDAY
FOX – 9:00 PM: We get a look at the hell that is the future in tonight’s re-air of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
ABC – 8:00 PM: This isn’t a recommendation at all. It’s a warning. Avoid, at all costs, the Nicole Kidman/Will Ferrell movie Bewitched.
MTV – 10:00 PM: Drama-philes will be happy to know that The Hills’ season premiere is tonight.
TUESDAY
FX – 8:00 PM: Enjoy The Hot Chick tonight as it is one of the few Rob Schneider films that actually entertains.
AMC – 8:00 PM: Robin Williams plays the straight man (har har) in his comedic coupling with Nathan Lane in The Birdcage.
WEDNESDAY
FOOD – 10:00 PM: New host Michael Symon has his first Dinner: Impossible task on Alcatraz. I guess for once prison food won’t be so bad.
THURSDAY
CBS – 8:00 PM: My dream of a Big Brother 10 without the gravel voiced ex-Marine may come true tonight. Oh but to dream!
VH1 – 11:00 PM: Margaret Cho is back with her own reality show called The Cho Show. She calls it a reality sitcom, I just call it late night fun. If you like Kathy Griffin’s Bravo show than this one is probably for you.
FRIDAY
FOX – 8:00 PM: Two hours of Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? If you watch both hours, you’re probably not.
ABC – 8:00 PM: The powerful (and unlikely) coupling of Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise along with a very powerful story makes for great entertainment in Collateral.
CMT – 8:00 PM: Last week I totally missed the premiere of the second season of Gone Country. This reality show takes people from all facets of entertainment and gives them the chance to compete for the opportunity to release a country single. This season has Jermaine Jackson, Irene Cara, Sean Young, Sebastian Bach and former American Idol contestant Mikalah Gordon (to name a few). Even if you don’t care for the music it’s good entertainment.
SATURDAY
MTV – 1:00 PM: You’ll still have to wait until the 25th to see the show itself, but MTV is giving us the Exiled Launch Special along with a My Super Sweet 16 marathon. Oh, don’t know about Exiled? Imagine sending 8 of the most pampered of the Super Sweet 16-ers to locations all over the world to live with host families in placed like the Amazon, the Arctic Circle and the Andes Mountains? Best of all? Their parents signed them up for this. Oh yeah, there is karma after all.
HBO – 8:00 PM: I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry has enough bad stereo type jokes in it to now pronounce you slightly entertained. It’s better than nothing I suppose.
SUNDAY
NBC – 7:00 PM: Faster than you can say ‘Chinese gymnast scandal’ the Summer Olympics Closing Ceremony is already here. I’ll give a shiny fifty cent piece to the person spotting the lip synching singer this go around.
CARTOON NETWORK – 11:00 PM: The powerful third season of The Venture Brothers comes to a close tonight. If you are reading this and you haven’t seen the first part than get thyself to Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim and catch the two minute opening that wasn’t even on the original broadcast (while taking in the rest of the episode as well).
– Will Wilkins looks like the Mayor of Candy Land in his ‘speed suit.’
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