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Tag: big brother

  • TV Or Not TV: Summer Heat?

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    With the summer days completely underway I have to admit that writing a column about all the television out there that I am not actually watching is a bit of a stretch. Rather than put out a disingenuous column I’d rather write this week about the things that I actually have been watching (or plan to). I hope you don’t mind bearing with me during this interlude before the return of my regular prattle and daily TV bread down.

    Big Brother’s Back
    Every year I have a guilty pleasure during the summer season and it is CBS’s BIG BROTHER. It isn’t because the TV show is creative and done well, it isn’t for the blatant attempts that they do to make the players on the show (known as HOUSE GUESTS) visually appealing, and it isn’t for the diversity they also decide to plunk into the house to drum up friction. I simply love watching the show to see the way that regular social graces and group dynamics break down so quickly.

    If you aren’t aware of the concept of BIG BROTHER in its US incarnation the idea is very simple: a sound stage is turned into a house, complete with an outdoor backyard, where there are over 50 cameras and microphones following around a group of contestants as they try to make it through SURVIVOR like internal voting eliminations while also competing for the things we take for granted every day: hot water, food, etc. Throughout all of this the House is not allowed any contact with the outside world. For 75 days this micro-community is all there is for these people and usually this means that they all go a little nuts.

    The producers of the show also know exactly what to do in order to create artificial drama or on-camera romance in order to fill time with the three weekly airings of the show: the provide plenty of alcohol to the HOUSE GUESTS. This helps lubricate arguments, conflict and romance. It helps increase paranoia, bad choices and helps the HOUSE GUESTS to blunder things up.

    This early on, with the show just starting, it’s very always very hard for me to get into the show because with 13 people living in a house at the same time it is hard for me to get all of these people straight. Each year they’ve tried to do something in the very beginning to help avoid this problem (at least for me) by introducing an early twist or idea. One season it was that the house was stocked with people and their ex-boyfriend/girlfriends. Another season they had twins playing secretly as one person (trading places in the special confessional/interview area known as THE DIARY ROOM), and another season they had people secretly playing as partners (each thinking they were the only ones). One of the better gimicss was the use of AMERICA’S PLAYER, a person that was playing to win but also had to do the things that we, the home viewer, voted for them to do. They would have to vote how we wanted them to vote, do stunts we told them to do which brought a new level of interactivity to the viewing experience.

    Seeing as how this is the 12th season of BIG BROTHER, however, I think the idea well is running a little dry because they’ve flat out lifted a concept straight out of another reality show by putting THE MOLE into the house, only BIG BROTHER calls this person THE SABOTEUR. The SABOTEUR has one goal in the show: undermine the other players and get to the half-way point without being discovered for a clean $50,000. Considering BIG BROTHER only has two winners and second place gets you the same amount as the SABOTEUR will win it’s a pretty solid plan considering the odds of winning are only two in 13.

    In an early smart move the show hasn’t revealed to us, the audience, who this SABOTEUR is. In an early dumb move they are going to reveal the person during this Thursday’s live eviction show. I say this is a dumb move because I enjoy not knowing who the SABOTEUR is and would rather enjoy their undermining antics while trying to determine who they are. This puts me in the same frame of mind as the HOUSE GUESTS and allows me to experience a bit of what they are going through first hand. Instead we’ll just be seeing them play out their antics much in the same way we already have from watching AMERICA’S PLAYER do their dirty work.

    If you are interested in watching BIG BROTHER you can catch it on CBS weekly on Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday at 8 PM.

    Are you PSYCH’d
    Summer always brings plenty of original programming on the USA NETWORK and July is no exception with the premiere of PSYCH this Wednesday, July 14 @ 10/9c. PSYCH is one of those shows that I enjoy watching every season solely for the performances of JAMES RODAY and DULE HILL. Their characters are entertainingly written, well performed and the actors portray an excellent chemistry. The one thing that is disappointing for me when it comes to PSYCH, however, is how far the show has really stretched away from its original concept.

    The original PILOT of PSYCH had JAMES RODAY’s SHAWN SPENCER having an incredibly well crafted and honed sense of perception who picked up on finer details that others would overlook that was matched with a very good deductive reasoning (if you saw the recent SHERLOCK HOLMES movie you know exactly what I’m talking about). The first few episodes of the first season were able to carry this concept but near the end of that initial run it began to erode. Now there are very few things that I feel like SHAWN observes that anyone else could pick up on, very few deductions made that anyone else couldn’t also come to. Considering I keep watching you can tell that this change hasn’t pushed me away.

    … and finally, EUREKA (and others)
    Even though the baffling name change happened the majority of the programming on SYFY really hasn’t. This past week on the network we saw the premieres of WAREHOUSE 13, EUREKA and the new show HAVEN. Of the three my favorite has to be EUREKA. The show is just silly science fiction fun set in the fictional town of Eureka, OR where a secretly funded brain trust of scientists push the boundaries of what we know in the name of progress.

    The show, now in it’s fourth season, has had an interesting evolution and it’s once again played with time travel. At the end of the first season, a glimpse into the future five years from where the show started, had SHERIFF JOHN CARTER had to travel back in time to the present in order to undo someone else’s meddling. In doing so he undid the very future we saw, something that I’ve been wondering if they would ever come back to. This season opener didn’t exactly take us back there but instead displaced many characters back to the 1940’s. In getting back, just as they always do, they inadvertently brought back one of the town founders, played by BATTLESTAR GALACTICA’s JAMES CALLIS (BALTAR) and now things are different. I’m hoping the changes won’t be permanent and will instead just be a plot line that plays across a few episodes. Seeing as how JAMES CALLIS is a brilliant actor I’m hoping he’ll be the one thing that they are able to keep around for a while.

    That’s it for this column. Come back next week and I’m sure I’ll have a mouthful of other things to say as well as some of the listings all of you (hopefully) enjoy.

  • BIG BROTHER Blog Report: Day 1

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    Day 1

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    Here we go again.

    Big Brother UK has reached it’s 11th and final series. For those not in the UK and Ireland, you may not realise the kind of juggernaut this has been on television for the last decade. It has defined a long trend in broadcasting changes, been front page news on innumerable occasions, caused international incidents, raised nobodies to celebrities and tore them back down again. Like it or loathe it (and the people have been picking sides with conviction since day one) you can’t get away from it. At it’s best, it’s a tool for social education and at worst its trash television made to shatter dreams. For the next 13 weeks it’s going to dominate a lot of the press and airwaves.

    I bloody love it. And I feel it’s final bow needs to be talked about.

    The UK set up is very different from the American one for many reasons but two key reasons in particular:

    1) Housemates are forbidden from discussing nominations.
    This is important because the US version is very tactical and seems to be more about “alliances” than friendships or having a good time.

    2) The housemates (minimum of two) who have received the most nominations for eviction will be voted out by the public.
    Now here is where the game really changes because not only are the housemates being watched by the public but they’re also being judged by them. Harshly, too. The pantomime of eviction nights are a cruel thing but part of the beauty of the show. These fame hungry lunatics are driven so demented by whether or not they are being received favourably by the outside world that they start to lose grip of their actions inside the house and things start to get nutty from there.

    Add to this the belief that they’re all going to be stars once they leave the house (which in reality is a really slim chance as very few previous housemates are doing anything more than their old jobs or sitting on their arses) and you get a mindset that is more of a ticking time bomb of delusion rather than one of rational thought.

    Last night the new housemates entered. The style in which they brought them in changed from previous years. A group of 81 hapless hopefuls were assembled and 13 were chosen on the night. They didn’t really mention why they did this clearly but it was an obvious ploy to stop their housemates being leaked to the press before the night itself.

    The 14th housemate was then chosen at random out of a tombola and given a special task for the first week. As seen in previous seasons the housemates have often theorized that a mole would be planted in the house to confuse them, well this year BB decided to be pretty blatant about it and made the poor man dress in a mole outfit, wear a sign saying “I am a mole” and made him sleep in a mole hutch. His task is to not be fingered as a mole. They weren’t joking when they called it his impossible mission.

    But, I’m getting ahead of myself here. It was launch night so I’m going to give you my first impressions of our cast and save the house antics for another day.

    Here’s my run down. Be aware, I’m going to be blunt.

    Ben

    ben

    Nob nob nobby nob nob. Extremely posh but in denial about it. Probably isn’t even in denial but he knows that the public who watch this show won’t like his upbringing (we’re a bitter bunch) so is trying to claim he is a man of the people. He has worked behind the scenes on a few reality shows so I’m surprised they let him on. Won’t last very long. He’ll most likely walk out after somebody gets aggressive with him. It’s a shame because he’ll probably be fascinating to watch considering he’ll be the only one in there with table manners.

    Caoimhe

    caoimhe

    Bollocks, I was hoping there wouldn’t be an Irish entry this year. Made all the worse by the fact that she’s a southside Dublin girl (ask an Irish man about “D4 girls” and stand back). She seems instantly dislikeable but my girlfriend thought she was pretty. I don’t agree with my girlfriend on this though. The only plus to having her around is she’ll probably snog the first guy who shows her interest and her name is hilariously confusing to the Brits. One snag, she pronounces her own name wrong. She says its “kee-vah” but in reality its “Quee-veh”. Lame.

    Corin

    corin

    “OhmygodlikeJordanismyhero”. Blech. Slapped up like a glamour model and all the class of one too. What was fun though is that as soon as she said she wanted to be like Katie Price the crowd instantly started to “boo” her. She claimed defiantly that she didn’t care what people think but unfortunately my dear they control you on a show like this so you better care. They’ll probably love her by the end though as the British public get retarded over a “tart-with-a-heart” character.

    Dave

    david

    As soon as I saw the monk outfit I knew I didn’t like him. Used to be an alcohol and drug abuser until he claims he felt the joy of god and has been getting “high” with the help of the lord ever since. Apparently has big holy raves on a regular basis. This seems to be just a way for him to try and promote his little church of godoholics so good luck to him. He could be comedy but his laugh seems forced and he’ll most likely turn out to be boring once he stops trying so hard.

    Govan

    govan

    Token queen of the house. He might get crushed in the first few weeks if he’s not careful. Seems like he could be a nice bloke though. He’ll need to get a “bestie” soon as it seems he loves a good gossip and that will go begging if he doesn’t create a harem around himself. His “bff” pick will be crucial to how far he’ll go in the house.

    Ife

    ife

    Pronounced “Iffy” and sure to give the tabloid writers a heart attack with joy for all the possibilities they can have with her in headlines. She could turn into a wreck the head though as her introduction hinted at a need to be singer. The fame hunger can make people seem desperate and sad sometimes so hopefully she can keep that in check and not wind everyone up with constant attention seeking tactics. “Look at me singing!” “sign me up to a contract!”.

    John James

    john-james

    Asshole. I’m calling it now. Loves himself and doesn’t care about anything else. He has already claimed he won’t clean up and that ALWAYS ends badly on this show. Will probably try and get off with 2 or 3 girls in the house after a few drinks and will no doubt get himself into endless trouble. I actually just want to punch his pouting face. ARGH!

    Josie

    josie

    My tip to win it (yes it’s only the first night but you can usually call these things early). “Bubbly” country bumpkin and fattest girl in the house. She’s a shoe in. I would like to clarify that she’s not remotely fat but she seems to be the only person who isn’t a stick insect in the house so unfortunately she’s landed with that role this year. She’ll get lots of love for this fact alone from the largely gay/female public. They love the ones who are “just like us” so if she can act a bit dim and be nice to everyone she can’t lose this.

    Mario

    mario

    Poor sod got landed with the mole task. Seems to be doing his job well though so far. I felt very sympathetic towards him as he seemed like a deer in headlights upon getting the news. This might be the sort of exposure he needed to do well in the competition though because he may have been a background player without this attention. He has no “wacky” angle to play up otherwise. Likeable fellow though.

    Nathan

    nathan

    Mancunian geeeeeeeeezer. Could rub people up the wrong way if he stays as “in your face” as he seemed at first. Another “joe soap” who could go far as long as he doesn’t rock the boat but I get the impression he could start a few arguments and might get a bit aggressive after the booze starts to flow. And yes, I’m being completely judgemental and stereotyping the guy. But it’s the first night.

    BeyonSORRY I mean Rachael

    rachael

    I’m gonna call her Beyonce for the rest of the show and I don’t care. Was happy to tell people she was a hairstylist on the night but seemed a bit embarrassed to talk about her work as a Beyonce impersonator. Prettiest in the house and she’ll fight to keep that title. Already seems to be getting derision from the females watching as our host Davina couldn’t stop making catty remarks about her. She could be the attention of the house for several reasons so I think we’re going to be talking about her for some time to come.

    Shabby

    shabby

    I hate her. For several primal reasons but mostly because she’s trying too hard. “LOOK AT ME, I’M CRA-RAAAAAAY-ZAY”. Ridiculous toff who squats in houses because she’s so arty. Honestly, there is bile building up in me just thinking about her. If we were in medieval times she’d probably run half the country. I would have put her head on a stick or died trying.

    Steve

    steven

    Probably the bookies favourite and for good reason. Amputee from fighting for his country with 8 kids, you try and vote the guy off without looking like a heartless scumbag! Has an easy ride to the final unless he fucks it up by being a bully to someone. I felt a little uncomfortable though during his entrance. This year BB has a “carnival” sort of theme and when a guy with no legs is standing there, waving to a crowd, it was all too literal of a “freak show” to me. It was an awkward decision.

    Sunshine

    yvette

    Her real name is Yvette but she’s another toff (this year is full of upper/middle class kids) who thinks she is a free spirit. She thinks this mostly because she has had a free ride in life. These sort of folks invariably get voted off by the public at a first chance. We may not have the money in our family like you do “Sunshine” but we have phone credit and that means you’re fucked, darling.

    –

    So there you have it. My opening thoughts on our players for this final game. I’ll be back after Friday night’s show. Stay tuned!

    – Aaron Poole
    Follow Aaron on Twitter – @AaronFever

  • TV Or Not TV: 7/6 – 7/12

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    Welcome to TV or Not TV where I’m giddy for the return of Big Brother.

    Every year around the 4th of July CBS conducts their televised social experiment when they lock 13 people into  the Big Brother house, which is actually a large house built inside of a CBS sound stage complete with an open back yard. Every wall is lined with two way mirrors and the house is equipped with over 28 cameras and 60 microphones dedicated to one thing: capturing a contained societies human drama. The people locked in this house will only have each other to talk to, scheme with, and plot against for the rest of the summer as they try every week to avoid being “evicted” and being the last person standing to win $250,000.

    With each passing year the producers of Big Brother try to up the ante on the show by coming up with clever ideas and twists. This year, however, I think all the attention on water boarding in the news put the producers and house designers into a stalag frame of mind. There is one room in the Big Brother house that contestants (here-to referred to as House Guests) will compete to stay out of and after seeing preview pictures I can understand why. The beds consist of a one inch thick piece of padding, what looks like an in-flight airline blanket, and a slightly than standard pillow. This is a room that all of the House Guests will be competing to stay out of. If the motivation of the discomfort of the room isn’t enough to motivate them they will also be given the treat of only being able to use a shower with only cold water.

    The next bedroom that is a step up from this one is hardly what I would call an upgrade. The room itself has a “pool” theme so the walls and floor are covered in pool tiles and the bed settings are made from inflatable pillows with inflatable pool raft comforters. Nothing says a good night of sleep like sticking to your pillow and blanket! There is, however, one regular bedroom with regular beds so don’t think that they are making all 13 of their House Guests suffer.

    The great thing about this show is that as time passes and the regular social graces fall to the way side the drama unravels on television three nights a week. Every Thursday and Sunday Night at 8 PM and Tuesday night at 9 you can see how the editors of this show cut together the natural drama and play it up to an entertaining extreme that I revel in every year. I can’t explain why I enjoy the show as much as I do but I come back every year.

    Sigh-Fi

    This week you will also notice a change in the network that some of the suggested shows are airing on. On July 7th the Sci-Fi network will try to shed some of it’s Star Trek perception by switching the name of the network to SyFy. Even though the name is pronounced the same they are hoping that this change in name will allow them to branch out more in public perception and offer a wider range of shows that still target the same audience. It’s confusing to say the least but as long as the programming gets better than I’ll ride it out.

    Now let’s take a look at what TV has to offer us to try to conquer the summer time blues.

    MONDAY

    TLC – 7:00 PM: If you haven’t caught the other cake shop show Cake Boss then tonight you can watch 8 episodes tonight. Don’t get confused though as episodes 1 through 6 are aired in reverse order. Someone must have been hopped up on sugar when they planned tonight’s schedule.

    VH1 – 10:00 PM: Having run out of decades to love and news of the week to lampoon the only thing that seems to be left is to debate useless topics on The Great Debate.

    SHO – 10:00 PM: Alanis Morissette joins the cast of Weeds for a brief stint as Nancy’s obstetrician.

    TUESDAY

    NBC – 8:00 PM: 8 families travel the US while doing clever and entertaining competitions at both popular and obscure landmarks seeking to be the last family standing to win a dream prize in The Great American Road Trip.

    ABC FAMILY – 8:00 PM: If this TV show named after and inspired by the movie 10 Things I Hate About You is a success I’ll look forward to the FOX re-imagining of She’s All That.

    SYFY – 9:00 PM: The X-Files meets Friday the 13th: The TV Series with the SyFy original series Warehouse 13. If you can get around the new network name the pilot is very entertaining.

    WEDNESDAY

    ABC – 8:00 PM: Nothing says love and support than couples traversing the obstacle course of shame and pain on Wipeout.

    TLC – 9:00 PM: Were you able to keep down dinner after last week’s episode of Monsters Inside Me last week? Organism outbreaks challenges you again this week.

    NBC – 10:00 PM: I’m still not sure what to think of The Philanthropist so I’m going to have to watch this week as well to make up my mind. I’ll let you know next week what I think.

    THURSDAY

    NBC – 8:30 PM: I’m not one to really recommend a repeat but tonight’s re-air of The Office is classic for me with the pure ineptness that Jim and Dwight show

    CBS – 9:00 PM: As mentioned above at length Big Brother premieres to fill the void of summer television. Bring on the Chen-Bot!

    FRIDAY

    THE N – 8:30 PM: A group of  hopefuls try to reach their dreams by starting on the Hollywood ladder in The Assistants.

    SYFY – 9:00 PM: The quirky high-tech show Eureka returns for another 13 episodes tonight as former Sheriff Carter meets his robotic replacement.

    SATURDAY

    CBS – 9:00 PM: Tonight you can finally learn who has been committing the wedding from hell murders with the series finale of Harpers Island.

    HALLMARK – 9:00 PM: I don’t usually watch the Hallmark channel but not since the 1980 TV film The Girl, the Gold Watch and Everything I think TV has been mising a  three part title movie. Because of this I may just watch The Gambler, the Girl and the Gunslinger.

    SUNDAY

    LIFETIME – 9:00 PM: Heaven Can Wait meets Now and Again as a shallow, skinny model wannabe gets bounced back down from the pearly gates into the plus side body of a lawyer in Drop Dead Diva.

    HBO – 10:300 PM: Entourage is back for a brand new season. Vince is in demand again, Turtle is dating Meadow Soprano and Drama is… well… I’m sure he’s about to get mad or start yelling about something by 10 minutes in.

    – Will Wilkins is experiencing technical difficulties. Please stand by.

  • TV Or Not TV: 6/1 – 6/7

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    Welcome to TV or Not TV where I’m actually not lametning the beginning of summer.

    As an avid TV watcher I’ve never been overly pleased with the oncoming of the warm season. There are many people that enjoy the heat, the sun, the extra hours of sun, and the extra hours of heat that come with this time of year. Because of people’s abnormal fascination with this time of year (give me an air conditioned room and a television any day) the television networks have traditionally reserved the summer season for their re-runs of things that we’ve already seen because they think we just aren’t watching. Thankfully that thinking has been replaced.

    The pay-cable crowd I’m sure is getting geared up for the return of True Blood on HBO. I have to admit that this show had me leary after the first episode but I was completely sucked in after that (pun intended). Those of us just in cable land are probably looking forward to the summer return of Burn Notice on USA along with Psych. You’ve also got Mad Men returning to AMC and The Closer on TNT. So many interesting choices.

    Every year, however, I look forward to the return of Big Brother on CBS. For some reason I just can’t get enough of the social dynamic that arises when you stick a bunch of people in a house, give them no contact with the outside world, and make them compete in stupid contest for things like food. The paranoia that sets in when these people get locked into the soundstage house is ever compelling and the producers purposely put in people that they know at almost a genetic level are in no way meant to get along. Grante the show is nothing like it was during the wonder that were seasons two and three, but it’s still the one thing I look forward to.

    Enough about this summer show drivel, let’s get on to the picks for the week.

    MONDAY

    NBC – 8:00 PM: After it failed on ABC the Peacock has decided to give I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! a second lease on US airwaves life.  Reality show staple Stephen Baldwin joins Heidi Montag, Spencer Pratt, Torrie Wilson, John Salley, Sanjaya Malakar, Lou Diamond Phillips, semi-crazy Janice Dickinson and the wife of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. I really hope they come through with the bees being released on Sanjaya.

    ABC FAMILY – 9:00 PM: The simplicity and wonder of The Princess Bridge never ceases to entertain me. Besides, I had to break up what looks like an NBC love fest as we move on to…

    NBC – 10:oo PM: It’s the series finale (on NBC) for Medium. See you next year on CBS Ms. Dubois.

    NBC – 11:35 PM: Tonight is the premiere of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. I’ll definitely DVR it.

    TUESDAY

    NBC – 8:00 PM: Night two of I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!

    CW – 8:00 PM: Two hours of Hitched or Ditched is such a sad epitath to the now gone Reaper (which fights for survival through syndication).

    ABC – 8:30 PM: It’s the series finale for According to Jim. Don’t let the door hit you…

    G4 – 10:00 PM: One of the movies that just screams “I was made during the 80’s!” is the teen angst to the extreme film that is The Lost Boys.

    WEDNESDAY

    NBC – 8:00 PM: Night three of I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! If they are both still on I’m sure Janice Dickenson has eaten Sanjaya by now out of desperation.

    G4 – 9:00 PM: Fans of Joss Whedon may want to take in Alien Resurrection as it was written by him. After the pain of Alien 3 this was a very nice return of some pride to the franchise.

    NBC – 9:00 PM: Brian Williams brings us an NBC News Special titled Inside the Obama White House. With how much Obama has been in the public eye is this really needed?

    HIST – 10:00 PM: A new season of Ice Road Truckers comes at us to cover 400 miles of some of the scariest road you’ll ever see someone drive.

    THURSDAY

    G4 – 9:00 PM: I’m starting to think that I might be programming the night time movies for G4 in my sleep. Tonight is another 80’s classic, Revenge of the Nerds. I’ll never forget when my brother took a 13 year old me to see this classic. Please don’t judge him.

    NBC – 9:00 PM: If you actually stuck through another episode of I’m a Celebrity blah blah blah there’s two hours of the Canadian import show The Listener. Faster than you can say Matt Parkman we meet Toby Logan, a paramedic who discovers he can also read minds. Whackiness ensues.

    TVLAND – 9:00 PM: Another classic from the 80’s features the late great Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School.

    FRIDAY

    FOX – 8:00 PM: Get ready for the man from downunder as former Men At Work frontman Colin Hay drops in to help out on Don’t Forget the Lyrics.

    FOOD – 8:00 PM: Break out the antacid and take in Ultimate Burger Bash With Food Network All-Stars.

    SATURDAY

    ABC – 8:00 PM: If you missed Wednesday’s edition of Wipeout than you can take it in tonight instead. I never tire of seeing these people get the snot smacked out of ’em!

    GSN – 8:00 PM: Just when you thought they couldn’t come up with any more award shows the Game Show Network whips out The Game Show Awards. Howie Mandel hosts and I can’t wait for the red carpet coverage.

    ABC – 10:00 PM: Here it is, the next to last episode of Pushing Daisies.

    SUNDAY

    CBS – 8:00 PM: OK, I konw you may have thought you were watching The Tony Awards back in March, but no, those were The Academy Awards. I’ve got five words for you to actually watch the Tony‘s this year: NEIL PATRICK MOTHER TRUCKIN’ HARRIS!

    NBC – 9:00 PM: Um, the second part of The Last Templar is on again tonight. With Angels & Demons coming out I can’t blame them for dragging this out again after just having aired it in January.

    A&E – 9:00 PM: Once again I have to snicker to myself as I say that we can once again enjoy Gene Simmons Family Jewels.

    FOOD – 9:00 PM: 10 hopefuls once again vie to be The Next Food Network Star. Considering how nervous I get just making a turkey for Thanksgiving I can’t imagine having to make a meal for Alton, Giada, Duff and Morimoto.

    – Will Wilkins was taped in front of a live studio audience.

  • TV Or Not TV: 9/15 – 9/21

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    Welcome back for a very special TV or Not TV.

    OK, it’s not really all that special. This week we’re taking a look at the new shows on the ABC Fall Schedule. There’s a reason why, however, I’ve been saving ABC for last. They’ve got two new shows. Yes, that’s right, just two.

    Opportunity Knocks (Premieres 9/23) ““ This new show from Punk’d creative team Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg‘s is a reality show made me think they almost lifted Brian Lynch‘s Party Truck USA idea. Instead the show concept is this: semi-truck game show pulls up infront of your house and uses objects and clues in the house to quiz the family as to how well they know one another. Cash prizes involved. I’ll wait to see to base judgment.

    Life on Mars (Premieres 10/9) ““ This show is a BBC import. The Americanized version was executive produced by David E. Kelley and stars Jason O’Mara as a present day police detective who, after a car crash, wakes up as a detective in the 70’s. The show has had lots of buzz because Kelley’s pilot “didn’t hew close enough” to the BBC original, so Kelley walked. A new pilot, a change of location and an entire recasting of everyone but the lead means this is one you have to catch just to see what turned out in the end.

    Well, I hope you were able to get through all of that and now you still have an appetite for the TV viewing opportunities out there this week.

    MONDAY

    SCIFI ““ 7:00 PM: If you’ve put off getting caught up in LOST-mania but you’ve always wanted to watch it from the beginning, now is your chance. You can sit back, relax and enjoy four hours of lost every week on Monday night.

    ABC ““ 8:00 PM: Oh look, someone else is airing Batman Begins.

    CBS ““ 8:00 PM: Get ready for the return of The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and Two and a Half Men by watching tonight’s repeat of the season finale.

    TUESDAY

    NBC ““ 8:00 PM: Last year’s edition of The Biggest Loser using couples was a great one, so they are keeping the concept going with this year’s edition: The Biggest Loser: Families. Husband-Wife and Parent-Child teams vie to lose big and win bigger. This show is a great motivator and great entertainment.

    CBS ““ 9:00 PM: Will it be Dan or Memphis who walks away with the half mill tonight? Which one of the jury members will win the $25,000 pity prize from America’s vote? After tonight you won’t hear me say Big Brother again for at least four months.

    FOX ““ 9:00 PM: Let’s see if Fringe can keep up the creepy momentum that they started with the pilot.

    ABC ““ 9:30 PM: The ABC news department is stretching for ratings with Primetime: UFOs”¦ Seeing is Believing. I haven’t seen a hubcap hung from fishing line in a long time, this should be fun.

    WEDNESDAY

    CBS ““ 8:00 PM: Two episodes of The New Adventures of Old Christine try to prime you for next week’s season premiere.

    HIST ““ 8:00 PM: How could you not watch Monster Quest tonight with a title like this? Bigfoot in New York.

    CW ““ 9:00 PM: If you missed this week’s new episode of 90210 yesterday than you can catch it tonight.

    THURSDAY

    MAX ““ 8:00 PM: Matt Damon steps away from F’ing Sarah Silverman long enough to try to uncover his real identity in The Bourne Ultimatum.

    NBC ““ 8:30 PM: Get ready for next week’s premiere of My Name is Earl and The Office by watching both shows season finales.

    USA ““ 10:00 PM: Unfortunately after tonight we’re going to have to wait until 2009 to see more of Burn Notice. Don’t miss it.

    FRIDAY

    You know the recommendations aren’t going to be good for a night when the writer leads off with”¦

    OXYGEN ““ 8:00 PM: The entertaining Legally Blonde and the dismal Legally Blonde 2 are back-to-back tonight.

    BRAVO ““ 8:00 PM: More proof that a sequel is too much of a good thing comes from Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Dangerous.

    BBCA ““ 8:00 PM: Forget all that other crap. Enjoy 80 minutes of Monty Python’s Flying Circus and enjoy the universal language of pure comedy.

    SATURDAY

    TNT ““ 8:00 PM: Queen Latifah finds out she is terminally ill so she does what we all do, sells all her stuff and lives it up in Europe in Last Holiday. I’m not really recommending this, this is what we call filler.

    FOOD ““ 9:00 PM: Two hours of Dinner: Impossible lead up to Iron Chef: America. Keep healthy snacks handy or this could be trouble.

    NBC ““ 11:29 PM: James Franco hosts SNL. I predict a Seth Rogen surprise visit.

    SUNDAY

    ABC ““ 8:00 PM: Every fashionista and star f’er will be tuning in for the 60th Prime Time Emmy Awards. I’m not one of them. No, really, I’m not.

    NGC ““ 8:00 PM: At last Titanic: The Final Secret is revealed! Wait, was there something we still didn’t know? Turns out there was. The guy who found the famed cruise ship was actually on a secret Navy mission to examine submarines lost during the Cold War. Who knew?

    FOX ““ 9:00 PM: Robot Chicken did a much better Star Wars special, however you might find the Family Guy‘s Blue Harvest chuckle-worthy. Some items I found funny, a lot of it felt like too drawn out of a joke. You decide.

    – Will Wilkins really wishes there were better things to watch on Friday nights.

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