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Encapsulated TV reviews
for:
January 4th- 10th, 2009.
The Techtite.com ratings system (icon version):
 Burnout
 Near
Miss  Small
Crater  Large
Crater  Deep
Impact
For
more on this web site's "Techtite" rating system, click here.
Sunday
9:00, NBC: Superstars of Dance.
This new series from the creators of "So You Think You Can Dance"
was, when you think about it, an easy sell. That dance competition has
numerous versions overseas...so why not have the best dancers compete in
one big dance-off? That's the general summary of this show, where eight
countries dance in front of eight judges; one from each country. They
then get scores from seven of the judges (the judge from their country
does not count for their own score). The six highest scores make it to
next week for the semi-finals, which will then be cut down to the top
four, and so on. The only downside is that this first show is two-nights
long and USA didn't even compete yet. Darn.
Rating:
Large
Crater.
9:00,
ABC: Desperate Housewives. Bree meets her son's future
mother in law (special guest star Joanna Cassidy) and the claws are out
as Bree tries to keep her son "local" and not move to a nicer
suburb...only to wind up buying a new house across the street as a
"surprise wedding gift." In other news: Edie has heard enough of Dave's
talking to people who aren't there and he is forced to confess he has a
few inner demons; specifically, the death of his ex-wife. For reasons I
guess we'll have to wait to have explained, Edie throws him out of the
house because he "lied" to her about never being married before. No; I
don't get it either.
Rating:
Small
Crater.
9:00,
CBS: Cold Case. I have to admit this isn't my favorite
crime drama. The original idea, I must imagine, is that "cold cases"
were reopened with new facts. For example: a 1950's case could be
reopened with DNA evidence unavailable for testing at the time. Yet most
of the time the solution to the case is something so ridiculous, any
typical police investigation would have uncovered the truth, very
easily. Take tonight's cold case, for example. An auto mechanic won 8
million, lost it all very quickly, then got killed in an alley. It
doesn't take a genius to guess that the crime was money related. The
culprit, one would imagine, would have left some sort of money trail,
which spoilers intact, they certainly did...though why did it take so
long for anyone to notice it? This is a series with a likeable cast,
though aside from that, the crimes are just...off, somehow.
Rating:
Small
Crater.
Monday
8:00,
NBC: Superstars of Dance. In part 2 of the first week of
competitions, USA finally performs as a team, and they do not
disappoint, though the ratings might have been a little bit of common
courtesy to some degree (as in: USA show taped in USA, so be nice to
USA, even if the performance was good). Two whole
countries get the embarrassment of being cut in week one. That's gotta
hurt. Rating:
Small Crater.
8:00,
ABC: The Bachelor. Season Premiere! When we last saw
Jason, he was ditched
by Deanna in the horribly disappointing season of The
Bachelorette last summer. Jump ahead to one of the most promising
seasons of The Bachelor ever. The catch: Jason is already a dad, looking
for a mother figure for his son, and perhaps a larger family. That's a
whole lot more husband worthy than the toy boys they often cast for this
show. This was not lost on the applicants, which were all surprisingly
good choices and not the least bit "desperate" looking, like in other
seasons. Some were single parents themselves. Many were totally smitten
with Jason. All of them felt that Deanna was a fool for breaking up with
Jason and choosing Jesse (who, FYI, she's already broken up with,
leading to a memorable YouTube video by Jesse late last year). Overall
this season looks very promising. Rating:
Large Crater.
10:00,
ABC: True Beauty. Series Premiere! This is an amusing
series since it stars models of all types, yet the competition has a
secret twist; this is a "true" beauty competition, and true beauty is on
the inside. So along the way to their next modeling "gig" on the show,
various stunt actors and whatnot perform deliberate accidents or the
like, so see the models' reactions. One supposed waiter has a serious
fall; will someone help him up? Another actor pretends to be a valet
with both hands carrying a batch of hot coffee; will someone hold the
door open for him? It's an amusing premise, which in the premiere was
more than enjoyable. With the added plus of series hosts like Vanessa
Minnillo and Cheryl Tiegs, this show shows great promise in the long
run. Rating:
Large Crater.
Tuesday
8:00, CBS: NCIS. This one was pretty intriguing
with the mild yet effective plot twists. The show begins with the
apparent crime: a missing Navy officer found dead in a ditch. Gibbs
immediately knows the culprit because the body is killed just like the
other victims of a serial killer they arrested some time back. At first,
it seems like all they need is the criminal's confession to the
additional crime and the show "ends" early, right? Wrong; a prison guard
suddenly drops dead, the prison inmates freak out because each one
thinks they'll be blamed for it, and suddenly a prison riot traps McGee
in with them. It's up to McGee to calm the prisoners down and promise
them to solve the crime, if just so the majority of them (except for
one) is found innocent. The plot twist of who is arrested for the crime
is one of many reasons I love this series. Seriously; if you're not a
fan, feel free to download this episode off of iTunes or the like and
see why fans like it so much.
Rating:
Large
Crater
8:00, ABC: Homeland Security. Series Premiere! Let me
be frank; I'm as surprised as anyone that I liked this episode so much.
I really expected very little here, which I had felt would be a lot like
the classic reality series Cops, though with homeland security in the
forefront. Turns out that homeland security handles a lot of intriguing
crimes near or around the United States borders. The amount of drugs
they find is actually pretty astounding. You always hear of the
knuckleheads who try to swallow a plastic bag of drugs, though would you
expect an even bigger knucklehead to "hide" drugs in a spare tire on his
car and expect the drug-sniffing dogs to not detect it? If anyone ever
thought that the scent of rubber was enough to sway a drug-sniffing dog
from detecting narcotics...nope! While not every story is golden
(there's a small amount of time wasted on a belly dancer without a work
visa), the rest of the episode was very good.
Rating:
Large Crater.
8:00, NBC: Biggest Loser: Couples.
Season Premiere! Okay; the easiest nitpick is that this is not a
"couples" season. Two best buddies are not a "couple." Yet the real
shocker here is how this season begins with only one "couple" (aka TEAM)
safe from being split up. The other teams must weigh in; the biggest
losers remain a team, while every single other team must split up, with
one of them leaving to exercise at home. The catch: if after 30 days
their teammate is still in the game, they get to return. Overall I think
this is an amusing premise though highly risky, in a season when so many
contestants clearly need to lose weight or risk serious health problems.
However, my fellow female couch potato loves this show, so I'll give it
an overall rating of...
Rating:
Small
Crater.
Wednesday
Not much to say about tonight's TV
choices though that will thankfully change by next week...
Thursday
9:00, ABC:
Grey's Anatomy.
To be honest I was just about to lose interest in this show until this
week's episode. The recent plots have been too bizarre lately, with
Izzie "sleeping" with an imaginary ghost and an intern literally cutting
her own gut open so her fellow interns could practice an appendectomy on
her perfectly healthy appendix. Yet tonight's episode was back on track,
with a batch of stories that were extremely moving. One boy in
particular is sure he's not going to survive for much longer so he came
with a "Make a Wish" form he's filling out. He wants the often cynical
Doctor Karev to sign it for him, though he refuses because he is sure
the kid is just "faking" a terminal condition so he can get a free trip
to the rodeo. It turns out the kid knows his medical condition a lot
more than you'd expect and Karev signs the form for him. It loses a
little in the translation though it was a pretty good storyline.
Meanwhile; guest star Eric Stoltz plays a death row inmate who is about
to be killed next week though he has been stabbed by someone
prematurely, and the hospital must make sure he lives, so he can die
next week on schedule. While you could probably cut this story's
political controversy with a knife (pun not intended), the thought of a
guy who knifed numerous women to death being "saved" so he can "die," is
pretty odd. Though the sales draw for this story is how much more we
learn about Meredith, Christina, and "McDreamy" as they debate the issue
from three totally different perspectives. In short; my faith in this
series is redeemed...if just for awhile longer.
Rating:
Large
Crater
Friday
9:00, Sci-Fi: Stargate Atlantis.
Series FINALE. Let me be honest: I was never much of a fan of the way
they ended Star Trek The Next Generation. Yes I know TV Guide listed it
way back when as a great episode; that doesn't mean it was. The idea in
that finale was that the Enterprise is nearly "tricked" into destroying
evolution as we know it, though not just of humanity. It is presumed
that had they succeeded, all life on the entire planet Earth would be
obliterated, just so humanity could be..."tested"? Weird. The episode
ended with Picard sitting down and playing Poker with his crewmates,
which pleased some people though...meh. I say all this because I have to
say that this episode of Atlantis was not terribly great to me, though
hey; I didn't like the allegedly "great" TNG finale, so what matters my
opinion? One Wraith ship learns the location of Earth. Atlantis must
chase the ship down (yes; the whole city of Atlantis!) to destroy it by
any means necessary. Though I'll give the show kudos for boldly killing
off a lead character (sort of), it's saying something when the finale
had Samantha Carter return, Atlantis returns to Earth, and still...as a
fan of the series, I wanted just a little more. Rating:
Small Crater
Saturday
11:35, NBC: Saturday Night Live.
Host Neal Patrick Harris with musical guest Taylor Swift. Some notes
about the show: the person who gets the "Live from New York..." opening
honors is Chris Elliott's daughter Abby Elliott. You also have to give
Harris kudos for being a team player, and even donning a dress for a
skit or two, a la the classic antics of the Monty Python troupe (among
others). He was also, in case anyone never saw How I Met Your Mother,
quite funny in each skit, with good comedic timing. Seth Meyers offers
his first "official" stint as the sole "news anchor" of the news sketch,
and he does a great job. Sure there were some missteps (stars with more
than two words to their names sit together and chat in one forgettable
skit) though the rest of the show was actually pretty good.
Rating:
Small Crater.
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