The week in review...
Let's begin the new format of Techtite TV with the week in review: the
week in a nutshell, in this television critic's opinion.
In short: this was Oscar Week. Chris
Rock....? Well, let's say the same I said for Letterman, who I love as a
talk show host but simply wasn't the right host for Oscar night. The same
can be said for Chris Rock who in his defense was given a lemon of a year
of movies, yet could not find it in his heart to make lemonade, if you
catch my meaning. It was a sour night that Chris Rock simply couldn't make
anything out of. Speaking of which: who said this year was supposed to be
so "unpredictable"...? Not from where I was standing...or
sitting, as was more the case.
In short: this week was the end of sweeps.
That would be bad news enough without a medical problem of mine to contend
with all week. I won't bore you with the details but if I seem merciless
in my reviews this week, I would not be beyond a confession of some bias,
based on my impaired attitude at the time. Then again; for any series to
make me forget my problems for a few minutes; I was comparatively very
kind. Let me begin:
Sunday, 8:30, ABC : The 77th Annual
Academy Awards. Let me begin by saying what I'll say in the
full review: how saccharine was the opening standing ovation for Chris
Rock? They've never done that before to the best of my knowledge (if
Steve Martin got one, I missed it); given a host a standing ovation
before even opening their mouth, and on their first time hosting as
well. Then Chris opened his mouth and all formalities were engulfed in
it. Did we really need to know that the star of Lethal Weapon 4 does not
appreciate Jude Law's overseen appearance on the screen? No...but Chris
offered it anyway, much to the chagrin of Sean Penn. Yet without a
single bigmouthed acceptance speech --yes, even from the documentaries!--
it was far from a total washout. However; it wasn't very good either.
Oh, and by the way: Million Dollar Baby would get it the honor of Best
Picture. Go figure. 
Near
Miss
Monday,
9:00, FOX : 24. Sweeps month ends for this series
with the end of the nuclear meltdown story arc, only the good news is:
no Million Dollar Baby cheap tricks are used. In short; the threat is
averted. The bad news: the big bad got away, of course, since it isn't
the end of the season proper yet. What will he do as plan B to his
attempt to cause mass destruction? Who knows. All we know is that the
head of CTU is holding her dead daughter by the end of the episode, and
in the previews, she appears to be too distraught to command, putting
Tony in charge for the interim before a new leader arrives. Who will it
be...? I hear it's a returning former cast regular; Michelle...? 
Deep
Impact
Tuesday,
9:00, CBS : The Amazing Race 7. Season Premiere! This
season looks to be a total blast. Love or hate Rob and Amber
(personally, I find them too interesting to "hate"; they make
for exciting TV), they are one of the many interesting teams this
season, with everything from a very likeable gay male team to a possibly
in the closet lesbian team, plus a pair of brothers, which is always
great (sibling teams have a more interesting partnership dynamic than
the lovers or spouses). In short; this is among the best casting of the
show for many seasons. I mean; I loved a team or two in the past three
seasons, but this season has a whole slew of likeable people and very
few moments of "which team is that again?" This could be the
best season of the series yet. At the very least; it's one of the best
premieres they've had to date. Deep
Impact
Wednesday,
8:00, ABC : Lost. Numbers
that brought Hurley to the island turn out to have come from the island.
Yes; they actually find a way to explain this coherently and logically.
Turns out Hurley used the numbers in the lottery and inexplicably won
the grand prize. Yet in the aftermath the poor dude's life seemed to be
cursed. He finally confronts the French lady on the island who explains
that the numbers were the original message sent out on the radio tower,
that now transmits her own sad message that's been repeating all these
years. Wouldn't you know it; this transmitter is stationed on that black
rock we keep hearing about. What's more; the hatch that Locke is so keen
on opening with Boone's help has an inscription. It's the numbers.
Coincidence...? I doubt in on this show. The bad news: this is the last
Lost until the middle of April. What is with the many gaps of this show
lately? It's not the best way to keep people interested. Deep
Impact
Thursday,
9:00, NBC : The Apprentice. In
Ashley's defense, John is a jerk...and Chris too, unless you like
tobacco-chewing clowns...or coworkers when thinking of it. Yeah, John;
we know Ashley isn't college educated, but neither are you if you're in
the street smart team, okay? Cut the girl some slack. Anyway; Ashley has
the meltdown of sorts that we all see in the promos, which includes
saying how she almost wanted to make herself ugly just to be liked, only
to have John jump into the conversation midstream and tell her, hey, at
least she's cute. You know; for a guy who acts like he's always right he
has a nasty penchant for always looking like an oaf. Anyway, Ashley uses
all her composure left post meltdown to sell herself as project manager
this week, only to have her team lose, so in a season with no surprises
whatsoever, guess who gets booted...? Well, okay, we will be fair and
say that Ashley had a better chance at staying had she not chosen in
nervousness three people (not two) to bring with her to the final
boardroom, and one of them was her one last friend in the game. Angie
had no other choice to cave and confess that Audrey made poor choices,
since admittedly, bringing Angie to the board room was the worst of
them. If it's any consolation; Audrey successfully planted the seeds for
Chris and John's eminent ouster, so her two most stouthearted detractors
are unlikely to win the game either. Yet to be equally fair she was
already on thin ice after having that meltdown, and whose idea was it to
have a miniature golf course run by a bunch of adults in clown costumes?
A clown outside of a circus setting is like seeing a fireman on a
rowboat if you know what I mean. The episode ends on a cute note when
The Donald does smile as he says he can no longer be accused of choosing
the prettiest contestant. Yet to follow the pun further; is it just me
or is this competition about to appear far uglier? 
Small
Crater
Friday,
8:00, Sci-Fi : Stargate SG-1. Part
2 of two. The good guys win while Daniel's whereabouts are unknown and
the temple is still controlled by Teal'c and his rebellion friends. In
short; a very high point of this season. Okay that's a bit short of a
summary. So let's cover the bases. For one Replicator-Carter is
defeated, finally. I can see them bringing back a robotic Carter in the
future if they need to --she was a robot after all-- but to keep the
original one just jumping around the galaxy was not likely, so it's cool
they were able to defeat her...and many episodes prior to the season 8
finale as well. As for the rest of the episode: Ba'al feels like he has
the upper hand yet doesn't, which is always cool, while new ancient
technology is found, which is obviously even cooler. 
Large
Crater
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