Welcome to TV or Not TV where I fear the Mantracker.
When it comes to the reality show Mantracker I’m actually about three years and an entire network too late, but this past Saturday I stumbled upon a marathon and was instantly hooked. Now shown every Wednesday night at 10 PM on the Science Channel (note: not SciFi, just Science) this show features Terry Grant, an old fashioned cowboy of 25 years who is an expert at tracking people through rugged terrain of the open wild, up against two Prey who must try to get to a designated target (typically 40 killometers/25 miles away) before the Mantracker can find them.
I know the concept doesn’t sound like much but to watch the show you find yourself instantly drawn in to this cat and mouse game of the Prey vs. the Mantracker. The editing is crisp and the soundtrack amplifies the drama or suspense of the moment. It’s also amazing to see how the simple things that we do when we walk or move around leave evidence in it’s wake.
The contest itself isn’t exactly fair since the Mantracker does his thing on horseback where as the Prey are on foot. This does give some benefit to the Prey as they are, at times, able to out manuever the Mantracker but when push comes to shove in a flat out foot race the horse will win every time.
Being the overthinker that I am I also have to wonder just how much evidence the camera crew that follow the Prey leave behind on this excursion and does the Mantracker use this to his advantage? Keen watchers of the show will also notice that if the Prey are caught up to sooner than the hour long show needs they will always get away (hey, you have to fill that time, right?).
Even with all of this I still have to say that the show Mantracker is the perfect type of show to watch when you don’t want your mind to have to do any work and you’re just ready to sit and decompress. Now that OLN has bit the dust I don’t know when the fourth season of Mantracker will see the light of day, but hopefully when it does it will be on the Science Channel as well.
Now that we’ve talked about Mantracker let’s see what else there is to track down to see this week.
MONDAY
NBC – 8:00 PM: It’s season finale night on NBC for Chuck and Heroes. Please, I’m begging you…. get everyone you know to watch Chuck tonight since this second season was phenomenal and the show really does deserve a third season.
CBS – 8:30 PM: Another one of my favorites is back tonight with How I Met Your Mother finding Barney and Marshall messing with Ted after he doesn’t adhere to The Three Day Rule.
NBC – 10:00 PM: Joe tries to use his daughter’s new found ability to save his failing company with her stock picks on Medium. Wasn’t this the plot of that Gary Coleman movie?
TUESDAY
FOX – 8:00 PM: Nothing says hip and modern like seeing the contestants of American Idol perform hits by the Rat Pack.
CW – 8:00 PM: What’s the bad side of dating a demon? Dealing with what happens after you break up with her. Ben and Sock find out the hard way on Reaper.
FOX – 9:00 PM: Tonight on Fringe we finally may find out more information on the Z.F.T. bio-terrorists. Nothing like them mythology connections to keep us sucked in.
ABC – 10:00 PM: OK, can anyone out there tell me how long Cupid has been on the air and did ABC do anything to promote it?
WEDNESDAY
HIST – 8:00 PM: Go ape for two hours of MonsterQuest tonight as they re-air the 2005 episode of The Real King Kong and follow it up with a brand new episode titled Mysterious Ape Island.
ABC – 9:00 PM: Our stuck in the 70’s LOSTies may find out how to get back to the future (snicker) with tonight’s return of Daniel Faraday. Turns out the physicist also finally spills the beans on everything he actually knows about the Island. I’m really hoping this one knocks our socks off as it’s titled The Variable and it is supposed to be the sister story to last seasons incredible episode The Constant.
DISCOVERY – 9:00 PM: The MythBusters go after some YouTube myths. Wait, what do they do after the cellphone/popcorn debunking?
THURSDAY
CW – 8:00 PM: Things heat up on Smallville tonight when Clark finds out that Davis is still alive. We’re on the home stretch folks.
ABC – 8:30 PM: Samantha Who? wraps up it’s second season tonight with a guest stint by Angie Harmon.
NBC – 9:00 PM: Now that Pam has returned to Dunder Mifflin on The Office as a salesperson I see the competitive sparks flying between her and fiance Jim. Probably not tonight, but it’s coming.
FRIDAY
Nickelodeon – 8:00 PM: How could I be the father of a five year old without mentioning the kick off of the Fairly Odd Parents: Wishology three parter tonight?
FOX – 9:00 PM: If you’ve been watching Dollhouse from the beginning and you want to know who Alpha is, you might want to tune in tonight.
CARTOON NETWORK – 9:00 PM: If you didn’t catch Star Wars: The Clone Wars the first time around it starts to repeat its run tonight, now with informative pop ups!
SATURDAY
Nickelodeon – 8:00 PM: Part two of the Fairly Odd Parents three parter airs tonight and I’m sure my daughter will be on the edge of her seat.
ABC – 8:00 PM: The Harry Potter franchise starts to take a considerable turn for the better with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
FOOD – 8:00 PM: Anyone on a diet should already avoid The Food Network but tonight you should REALLY avoid it as Guy Fieri looks back at his favorite stops in The Best of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. This one will have you at your local greasy spoon in 10 seconds flat.
A&E – 8:00 PM: 15 years ago Arnold was still cool and Jamie Lee could dance and still look good in True Lies.
DISCOVERY – 8:00 PM: Three hours of Pitchmen might be tough if you are an impulsive buyer, if not it’s just fun to watch.
SUNDAY
Nickelodeon – 8:00 PM: Seriously, I’ve watched Nickelodeon’s Fairly Odd Parents three nights in a row now? Wow, I sure hope Timmy can defeat the Darkness.
ABC – 9:00 PM: Now that Susan has been single and loving it Jackson returns tonight on Desperate Housewives to throw a hitch in her plan. Who am I kidding? I’ll probably be reeling from Fairly Odd Parents and won’t be able to concentrate.
AMC – 8:00 PM: In all seriousness I’m going to have a tough time choosing between watching Happy Gilmore or…
CMT – 8:00 PM: The Coen Brothers re-imaging of Homer’s The Odyssey is brilliantly done in O Brother, Where Art Thou?
– Will Wilkins was taped in front of a live studio audience.
Comments: 3 Comments
3 Responses to “TV Or Not TV: 4/27 – 5/3”Leave a Reply |
April 27th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
With all due respect, it’s spelled “Coen” brothers.
Enjoyed the article as always, just felt I had to correct that.
-Mike from Woodstock
May 13th, 2009 at 3:46 am
[…] Chou, Johanne Ryan, Kelly put an intriguing blog post on TV Or Not TV: 4/27 – 5/3Here’s a quick excerptWelcome to TV or Not TV where I fear the Mantracker. … This one will have you at your local greasy spoon in 10 seconds flat. […]
January 28th, 2010 at 12:14 pm
I love that Guy Fieri added Alaska and Hawaii to the list Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Not
sure why he doesn’t visit Colorado as I don’t see it on the map. We went to Chicago over the
New Years and visited all those places. Frosted Mug was closed and the Mac and Cheese at
Dell Rheas Chicken Basket was extremely fattening and good!