Welcome back to TV or Not TV where I can’t wait to el fuego my Friday.
This week FOX both pleases and baffles the heck out of me as they put one of the shows I like and one of the shows I’ve been looking forward to and puts them back-to-back on one of the hardest nights of television. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles returns and Joss Whedon’s new television project Dollhouse premieres… on Friday… the 13th. I’m not one to be superstitious, but this doesn’t make me very happy.
In case you haven’t noticed, television and Friday in general don’t mix. Yes, there are a few shows that have found their place in the last day of the work week (Ghost Whisperer and… um… Ghost Whisperer) but others usually struggle for ratings or are so cheap to produce that the networks aren’t concerned about what they are airing. Neither of the latter elements are the case for either Terminator or Dollhouse.
Friday has also not proven itself as a great vehicle for shows on FOX. The Visitor, John Doe, Dark Angel (although it did get two seasons), and Joss Whedon’s Firefly were all shows that lived and subsequently died on Friday night. Part of me thinks that they have been struggling for years to try to gain back the brief success they had on Friday with The X-Files, and part of me thinks that they are just throwing whatever they can on Friday’s and they are just trying to see what sticks.
The final reason that I don’t feel good about this is that FOX hasn’t really paired Dollhouse with Terminator. They have paired Dollhouse up with two series that are playing out the final episodes of their current (or maybe final) seasons. Currently Terminator has 8 more episodes and it doesn’t look hopefull (in this writer’s opinion) that the show will get renewed for another season. After those eight hours are up Prison Break will come back to finish up it’s final season. Why does this concern me? Both shows didn’t post strong numbers in thier fall airings and part of the success in the ratings game is the strength of a shows lead in. If FOX really had a strong desire to have Dollhouse do well it might have been better to pair it with their other new (and successful) show Fringe or give it one of the coveted post-American Idol slots.
Sure there are indicators that FOX does want to see Dollhouse succeed. The show has been heavily promoted both on television and online for what feels like half the time of forever. The show has also been included as one of the two shows chosen for the networks “Remote Free TV” concept, where they cut six minutes of advertising time and give us six more minutes of show time, for which they charge advertisers a premium on the remaining ad time available. This says that they feel something is there and they are betting on the Whedon fans to come through on ratings. I hope this all works as I’ve been a long standing Whedon fan and I want to see the show succeed.
With all that said let’s see what’s going on with this week’s television options.
MONDAY
ABC FAMILY – 8:00 PM: Ben tells Amy he needs space on the next The Single Life of the American Teenager. Who’d have thought teen pregnancy can put stress on a relationship?
NBC – 9:00 PM: So Heroes comes back and the producers are really hoping that a plan cash can work to make the show good again. They do know that a plane wreck doesn’t work for every show, right?
CBS – 9:30 PM: No, you didn’t lose your The Big Bang Theory. It’s just keeping the seat warm for Worst Week here at 9:30.
TUESDAY
ABC – 8:00 PM: After the original airing of Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown in 1975 kid’s all over the country sent a sympathy Valentine to ol’ Chuck. In today’s world they’d probably not even be troubled to text him.
G4 – 8:00 PM: G4 is switching it up 80’s style with an airing of Gremlins followed by Real Genius. Oh so tempting.
FLN – 9:00 PM: Michael Somerville tries to help the dating hopeless in the new Fine Living Network program Wingman. If I weren’t married I’m sure I’d be his greatest challenge.
WEDNESDAY
FOX – 8:00 PM: American Idol narrows it down to the top 36 finalists tonight. I have hard enough remember who is who in the top 12, these next few weeks are going to be tough.
TLC – 8:00 PM: Tonight on My Shocking Story the 55-year-old “Octoman“, who has four arms and three legs, comes out of seclusion to have his parasitic twin condition examined.
ABC – 9:00 PM: Tonight’s episode of LOST is titled This Place is Death. Based on the title and what happened last week I’m hoping for a return to the Black Rock.
THURSDAY
NBC – 8:00 PM: If the buildup has been killing you than you can rest easy… Mr. Turtle returns tonight on My Name is Earl.
CBS – 8:00 PM: The castaways are back with the premiere of Survivor: Tocantins. The game begins a lot sooner when they must vote people out based on first impressions before the first challenge even starts.
SCIFI – 9:00 PM: Get your Whedon fix a day early with the Firefly movie Serenity.
FRIDAY
FOX – 8:00 PM: Sarah fights for her life and gets help from an unlikely source on the return of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
NBC – 8:30 PM: Tonight they are re-airing the first episode of Howie Do It. If you didn’t catch it the portion for Break In Makeover make the show worth watching.
FOX – 9:00 PM: After everything I wrote above you think I’d not put Dollhouse in the picks too?
SCIFI – 10:00 PM: The Fith Cylon is back and Anders injury last week leads to a wealth of memories on Battlestar Galactica.
SATURDAY
USA – 6:00 PM: Staying in for V-Day? How about Sweet Home Alabama followed by The Breakup?
AMC – 8:00 PM: Nothing says lovin’ like The Godfather: Part II.
OXYGEN – 8:00 PM: Some might say the ultimate stay-in date movie is Sleepless in Seattle. Who am I to argue?
SUNDAY
CBS – 8:00 PM: Eleven more teams kick off The Amazing Race 14.
TBS – 8:00 PM: OK, I admit that even though I’m a guy I did enjoy Failure To Launch. I do have to wonder if it is in the Mathew McConaughey contract that he appear shirtless in just about every film.
COMEDY – 10:00 PM: Want to know where our site sponsor Omni Consumer Products Corporation‘s amazing energy drink Brawndo comes from? Catch Idiocracy tonight on Comedy Central.
– Will Wilkins does not really suffer from paraskavedekatriaphobia.
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