Reruns on Cable
Cancelled
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2002-2003 Season
Holiday Meanderings Part IV, Odds and Ends
News
Holiday Meanderings Part IV, Friday and Saturday
Holiday Meanderings Part III, Wednesday and Thursday
Holiday Meanderings Part II, Tuesday
Mid-Season Awards, 12/11/02
Holiday Meanderings Part I, Sunday and Monday
Sunday Nights
Saturday Nights
Friday Nights
Thursday Nights
Wednesday Nights
Tuesday Nights
Monday Nights
Whining Part VI, Odds and Ends
Whining Part V, Friday and Saturday
Whining Part IV, Wednesday and Thursday
Whining Part III, Tuesday
Whining Part II, Sunday and Monday
Whining
FOX and UPN
CBS
NBC, WB, and ABC
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2002-2003 Season, Dragnet, Miracles, Queens Supreme, Roswell, Stargate SG-1: Holiday Meanderings Part IV, Odds and Ends
Tuesday 12.17.2002
alice ttlg || 11:55 AM
Miscellaneous shows on cable or outside of prime-time
Andromeda has deteriorated badly this season into a mediocre to bad show. They started a series plot line in the first season, then largely ignored it in season two and now in season three, it's gone and it's down to the action adventure of the week. There have been a couple good eps this season but otherwise, it's been pretty bad. Adventure Inc. started off badly but has improved, it's still only an average show but I look forward to seeing it more than Andromeda. The cast has meshed nicely, Michael Biehn plays off the two young actors well and the plots have been interesting although a weird mesh of scifi with action-adventure at times but I'm not expecting Emmy material so I'll suspend my disbelief for an hour each week. Stargate SG-1, I've been taping this and haven't had a chance to watch any eps yet, with the upcoming drought of the next two to three weeks, I'm about to break out the tapes tho. Roswell, Once a Thief: Roswell is finally going to air on Sci-Fi, starting January 13! I've been looking forward to this for over a year. I loved the pilot when it reran on UPN last year, although I've heard bad things about season two, still it looks promising. Once a Thief, my little local dufus channel finally started showing it or at least it's finally turning up in the TV Guide listings, but the eps are radically out of order. It's a mediocre show at best, I watch it mainly for Nick Lea and there are some hilarious moments with the leather fetish Director and the two assassin types, they do a hilarious Waiting for Godot spoof in one ep.And that's it for now, there's some new shows turning up in January, Dragnet, Miracles, Veritas, and Queens Supreme (which I think is a terrible title, makes me think they're going to break out into Diana Ross tunes every five minutes!)
[MattM adds] Well if it was David Kelly they probably would break out in Diana Ross tunes heck he's already got his new Supremes!!! (December 18, 2002 09:16 AM)
2002-2003 Season, Dinotopia, Dragnet, Law & Order: SVU, Miracles, Practice: News
Tuesday 12.17.2002
alice ttlg || 11:49 AM
ABC will shelve Dinotopia after the 12/26 ep, no surprise there and no loss, I stopped watching after the second ep. A special episode of Alias will air on ABC after the Super Bowl which means I have to watch the last part of the Super Bowl so that I can start the vcr on time to tape Alias (arrgghh). And Stephanie March (Alex Cabot, the ADA) will leave Law & Order: SVU this spring which is bad news for me, she is one of my favorite characters. But then again, it's about time they changed the main cast there, maybe some new blood will improve the show.
For those who don't already know, Practice is moving to 8pm on Mondays and there will be two new shows before and after it, Veritas: The Quest at 7pm with Ryan Merriman who played young Jared on The Pretender and Miracles at 9pm, that one's got Skeet Ulrich who I've liked in several otherwise mediocre movies so I'll give that one a shot. Whether I watch Veritas will probably depend on whether 7th Heaven is a rerun or not. Boston Public has gotten unwatchable, after last night's ep, I've given up on it.
The blurb for Miracles, "Skeet Ulrich (Scream, Chill Factor) plays a miracle investigator who is losing his faith, until something happens that changes everything", doesn't sound real promising although the previews have looked sufficiently dark and interesting but it's hard to tell.
Dragnet will get The Practice's Sunday night slot after Alias and I'm looking forward to this show. While I never watched Married...with Children, I have seen Ed O'Neill in some serious roles and he can be very good and I think he can do a good job with this show. So it's definitely worth a look-see.
2002-2003 Season, Firefly, John Doe, Law & Order: SVU, The District: Holiday Meanderings Part IV, Friday and Saturday
Friday 12.13.2002
alice ttlg || 07:05 PM
Friday
Firefly, John Doe:Saturday
One lone show in prime-time! Yeesh! The District, the Russian mob plotline is gone, thankfully but this show, like several others, has lost its way, begun to jump the shark. I still watch for Jonathan Lapaglia but it's getting harder and harder.[Jane adds] I think its a crock that they've taken the District off the fall line up. It was a very easy to watch show compared with some of that other crap thats on (September 11, 2004 12:00 PM)
2002-2003 Season, Birds of Prey, CSI, Dinotopia, ER, Enterprise, Fastlane, Friends, Law & Order, Presidio Med, Push, Nevada, Without a Trace: Holiday Meanderings Part III, Wednesday and Thursday
Monday 12.09.2002
alice ttlg || 10:36 PM
Wednesday
This has been the most disappointing night of the week for me, several new shows and all of them bad! Presidio Med, MDs: Presidio Med, another one that my brother and I disagreed on, MDs, pretty darn bad. Fastlane, Twilight Zone, Birds of Prey: The Fast and Furious ripoff is just that, fluff, but it's degenerated into fairly boring fluff. Twilight Zone was so uneven, every time I watched, at least half of it was bad so I gave up watching. Birds of Prey, just never could get into this one, for a variety of reasons, and the ep from last Wednesday (12/4) was bad, the familar old friend comes to town and baddie shows up at the same time and gee, duh, our superheros never connect the two until the baddie pulls off the mask to reveal the old friend, yuck. West Wing, still the best thing on Wednesdays, slightly slow start but picked up nicely and perking right along. My Wife and Kids, this was good over the summer but since the season started, it's gotten bad, using tired old gimmicks and celeb stars to make boring eps. Enterprise, I said this was missing something but it's found it this year! :) Great beginning and some terrific stuff this fall, I hope it keeps going like this all season. (I still hate the theme song tho but I'm really quick at hitting the fast forward button.) Law & Order, no improvement over last year as far as I can see, still pretty awful, badly done versions of the page 1 headlines.Thursday
Friends, Good Morning, Miami, ER: Friends is jumping the shark, GM Miami was atrocious and still is from what I saw last week. ER has been pretty good, nothing spectacular, just good decent shows every week. Family Affair: This was so awful, I couldn't stand to watch it even tho Gary Cole's in it. Dinotopia, Push, Nevada: I found Push Nevada terribly cliched, a badly done mish mash of a variety of other shows. Dinotopia, eh, so-so, not great, not terrible, but the talking dinos annoy me, special effects are a bit blurry too, I have a feeling this will drop off my radar simply because it's so bland. CSI, and still a great show, there's been a few boring eps but overall, it's still a really good show. Without a Trace: This one, well, in the beginning I complained about the two dimensional nature of the investigators but then they threw in some really awful soap opera dreck and the cases got more interesting so now I'm happiest when they leave the investigators in a two dimensional state.[MattM adds] Presidio Med is another show that you didn't give a chance and wrote off to early. (December 10, 2002 08:29 AM)
[alice ttlg adds] But I've read all your reviews of it (and Haunted) and we've talked about and it still doesn't interest me, I'm not interested in a suburban ER, the plot lines are not interesting to me. To each his or her own, just like you don't like Judging Amy and Guardian... :) (December 10, 2002 11:13 AM)
[marizon adds] csi 4th season is very boring. still a great show. but i was hoping they would ccontinue with the romance between grissom and sara. but in a little doses. coz it will be a disaster if its going to be full blown romance. csi is about crime solving. i like it that way. (May 8, 2004 07:14 AM)
2002-2003 Season, 24, Buffy, Frasier, Haunted, Hidden Hills, Judging Amy, Smallville: Holiday Meanderings Part II, Tuesday
Sunday 12.08.2002
alice ttlg || 10:35 PM
Tuesday
Sitcoms: In-Laws, Just Shoot Me, Frasier, Hidden Hills. I thought I'd hate In-Laws and love Hidden Hills but the opposite happened, Hidden Hills got mired down in the voiceover and baby boomer introspection while In-Laws used some great comedic actors and a more current (and toned down) version of All in the Family. Life with Bonnie was so awful I couldn't stand to watch it after one ep although I did catch two more eps in reruns on the Family Channel but they were even worse. Damn shame, Bonnie Hunt is a great comedian but she needs the right part, she's better as a straight man than a lead. And Just Shoot Me, I used to love this show but they lost me at the beginning of the season, threw in new characters and I lost track of what was going on and then lost interest, it's jumped the shark very quickly this year, tired writing, recycled jokes, yuck. Buffy, started off slow this year, the first half dozen eps didn't have much an emotional impact for me (reminded me of the beginning of 4th season, her first year at college) but the Spike stuff is terrific (and no, Matt, I'm not talking about Spuffy love! that is gone for good, I think) and the plot is picking up nicely now. There's been a few missteps tho, Willow's line about killing Anya was really jarring, considering her killing Warren last year and Buffy just took it as a normal thing to say but it was really out of place. 8pm blockbusters, 24, Guardian and Smallville: 24's been so-so this year, lots of repetition and Kim drove me nuts last year already so she's three times as annoying this year. She gets my award for "Character you most want to bash with a baseball bat". Guardian...this show had a wonderful edge last year, Nick's relationship with his dad really fueled the show and that's mostly resolved now so some of the edge is gone. I'm really glad they didn't have Lulu take the easy way out and get a divorce right away but her long-suffering attitude about her creep of a husband is getting annoying. Smallville, good but it's having a slow start, not as edgy as last year, there's been some good eps and I do like Chloe and Lana living together but they need to give us something. After the first season finale, I was expecting them to reveal something about where he comes from and we got absolutely nothing, they need to give us something, doesn't have to be big, but Something! Haunted, lived down to my expectations of being atrocious (my brother and I really differ on this one! :)) 9pm leftovers, Judging Amy and NYPD Blue, Judging Amy has been good, dealt realistically (well, up till the very end) with a stalker, NYPD Blue has done a complete 180 from last year, going from really great to really yucky, turning into Andy the bigot cop beating up on suspects while John stands around watching and the Andy/Connie thing still grosses me out.[MattM adds] In regards to Haunted you never gave it chance it started out rocky but really kicked into gear about the third or fourth episode. Judging the show from one or two episodes was meaningless because that was before the show found its gear. (December 9, 2002 12:12 AM)
2002-2003 Season, Birds of Prey, Boomtown, Haunted, John Doe, TV Awards: Mid-Season Awards, 12/11/02
Sunday 12.08.2002
MattM || 12:13 AM
I won't be quite as extensive as my sister who I suspect is trying to pile on entries since I have pulled to almost 200 ahead of her. So in short I will only be covering new shows here. My apologies for the last minute edits and changes but since all shows before christmas should be considered I have had a few surprises come in.
Biggest Surprise of the Fall Season: John Doe. Clearly a horrible concept but pulled off brillently by the actors and writers. Totally shocked me although Haunted probably would have won this award but well UPN in its stupidity cancelled that.
Best New Show: Boomtown. Due to the myrid number of cancellation this was a very easy choice to make. This series might even be in the top three for best hours on TV but I never put anything there until after it has been through at least 1 1/2 seasons.
Best Job by an Actor in a New Series: Neal McDonough clearly wins this award after his show stopping performance in Boomtown's The David McNorris Show. Much like Michael Rosenbaum did last year in Smallville he shows a man fighting both his good and evil side in a constant battle. He doesn't want to be his dad but his ambition blinds him and suddenly he is. Still honorable mentions have to go to Matthew Fox, Donnie Walburg, Dominic Purcell, Ashley Scott, and Nathon Fillion.
Biggest Disappointment: Dinotopia. The mini-series really surprised me in how good it was. Then they announced this show and I had high hopes for the series but it was just plain unwatchable. A new cast of inferior actors and writing that belonged in campy syndicated shows like beastmaster and sheena of the jungle this clearly wins this award.
Worst New Show: MDs. Great cast and the most horriffic writing ever to be seen on TV. So bad it was actually funny and the DAMMN IT line in that horrible accent will live on forever.
Worst Cancellation: Again another easy one but still to note that this has to be the worst year I have ever seen for shows getting axed for no good reason but the winner is Haunted. This could have been a great staple show for UPN if they had only given it a chance to find an audience in a less demending of a time slot.
Stupidest Network: Fox who could easily have had 8 shows and been my second most watched network but by seasons end could have as few as 2 or 3 and be ranked with WB and UPN.
[alice ttlg adds] LOL! Yes my brother has a big ego! But I hold the keys and I can reduce his count to a mere dozen whenever I please! ::evil cackle:: (December 8, 2002 06:52 PM)
[MattM adds] Ah yes leave it to my incredibly mature older sister to pull that stunt. Don't matter though I have scoreboard as anyone can see so change the numbers all you like. SCOREBOARD and goodnight!! (December 9, 2002 12:14 AM)
2002-2003 Season, Boomtown, Boston Public, CSI: Miami, Crossing Jordan, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Practice, Third Watch: Holiday Meanderings Part I, Sunday and Monday
Saturday 12.07.2002
alice ttlg || 10:33 PM
So here were are, almost at the midway point, just about to hit the dry weeks of Christmas and New Year's and I thought I take some time to review the fall so far and make some resolutions about what to watch next year and what to stay away from. :)
Sunday
Bram and Alice, gone, good riddance, the girl was great, she'd been in other things I liked, but the show sucked and so did the guy playing her father. Boomtown, Absolute Best New Show of the Season! When I first wrote this up in September, I called it a clone of Third Watch and I expected it to be an average show, but I have to eat my words, it's become the best thing on TV, due to its storytelling style and a great cast topped by Donnie Wahlberg. I look forward to Sunday evenings now just like I waited anxiously for Thursdays back in the 80's to watch Hill Street Blues. Alias, the Practice, Angel: Alias started off well and just keeps going just like the Energizer bunny! The Practice stunk last spring and outside of a few moments, it's been pretty stinko ever since. Angel....fairly mediocre to start with, then I got hopeful as it picked up some and then they threw in Cordelia being pregnant and I tossed the show down to a yellow. It may hit orange before the end of the season. I loved Angel in the first two seasons and in the third up until the moment Darla gave birth/died. Ever since then, it's been downhill, Cordy's pregnancy was the last straw for me. The only reason I haven't rated it lower is because it's Joss Whedon. Law & Order: CI, it's been up and down, some eps have been really good and some have been awful and boring, mostly it's been better more times than bad but it's still very uneven.Monday
Third Watch, started off strong but it's gotten a bit off since then. Much as Bosco and Faith are my two favorite characters, even I miss the old ensemble feel to the show. I know that Kim Raver is pregnant but what happened to everyone else? They've all just disappeared while it turns into the Bosco & Faith show. Crossing Jordan, Boston Public, 7th Heaven: Fair, stinko and fair. Crossing Jordan started off with the mother obsession but then it actually got better and I like the romance thing with Woody, I hope they take that further. Boston Public, waste of words to talk about it, bad plots, bad characters, just bad, bad, bad. 7th Heaven kind of ran off the rails with the dad's heart operations and the whole Lucy always being mad or jealous or both over Kevin is really getting old, they need to move on to other plot lines and resolve that one already. And Kevin's brother needs to go home for good, sheesh. CSI: Miami, I think Kim Delaney ruined this show. Even tho she's gone, it doesn't look to be getting much better. I'll give it a few more eps in January... Girls Club: Sigh. This turned out to be surprisingly good so, of course, Fox cancelled it after only two eps. Sheesh, why couldn't they have cancelled stinko Boston Public or the Practice instead?2002-2003 Season, Boomtown, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Practice: Sunday Nights
Wednesday 09.18.2002
MattM || 02:10 PM
Sunday night is apparently attack of the clones. We have Boomtown aka Third Watch: LA, American Dreams aka Wonder Years II, The Grubbs aka Married with Children and Bram and Alice, yet another among countless remakes of the long lost daughter makes good with the bad father. Alex, can I have original concepts for a 100? Okay, I might be a bit harsh here because Boomtown does look like it might be good but still this looks like bomb night, thank god for Alias and Angel. The Grubbs is going to be horrible, it has Randy Quaid and FOX is on its 100th version of sitcoms with dysfunctional familes (Malcom in the Middle, Simpsons, Married with Children and on and on and on and on), is there such a thing as a good family on FOX? Randy Quaid sucks, concept sucks = October 15th at the latest. American Dreams, ok, great, they got a good talent like Michelle Branch to do music on the show, that will sucker a few young watchers but really now, what is it with this garbage, Wonders Years was good but do they really think they can rehash it with old outdated stereo types? Bram and Alice is not even worth mentioning.
The flip side to this is the returning shows which I am stoked for. Alias should be ready to go with a great 2nd season as we figure out her mother and what happened to Vaughn, etc. etc. etc. Angel is a great mystery at this point but I feel the show is in a decline, even though I liked a lot of what they did last year but I hope it bounces back. Law and Order: CI had a somewhat uneven season and I do not have high hopes for it to get much better. The fact is, this show is like baseball and can be summed up in one word: OVER-EXPANSION. Then there is The Practice, this show so jumped the shark last year and I doubt I will be watching it much past October as it has gotten so awful.
2002-2003 Season, The Agency, The District: Saturday Nights
Saturday 09.14.2002
MattM || 06:40 AM
This is will be the shortest entry of all. There are zero new shows on this night and the only show I watch here is Agency. Agency had a very rocky first year but to me, showed a lot of promise and then they killed Gil Bellows' character and will now take the show into more a political arena. I think this show will die a slow death here and be propped up by the District for a season or two at the most.
2002-2003 Season, Firefly, John Doe, Law & Order: SVU: Friday Nights
Saturday 09.14.2002
MattM || 06:37 AM
This is a night that got a complete overhaul. Even with UPN not competing that night, Friday has a total of 4 new dramas and 2 sitcoms. The sitcoms, as are the case for this season, are pretty much forgettable and both on WB. What I Like About You is two sisters living together and the other is a 15 year old with a old school father and a hip uncle. Really quality stuff. The dramas, however, are mixed, with 2 having real potential for success and two duds. John Doe, this show killed itself with the trailer of "I want to report a missing person and that missing person is me" schtick they pulled. HAHA FUNNY!! Ok, this show won't last. Surely Dark Angel could have done better then this crap. My sister seems bent on giving the show a shot but I see what should be a worst show award if it wasn't for its competition from ABC. That Was Then is the hour long version of Do Over. See comments from Thursday as to what I think of this god awful show. The two shows with promise are Firefly and Robbery/Homicide Division. Both are made by terrific TV producers, Joss Whedon (Buffy and Angel) and Michael Mann (Miami Vice). R/HD, however, gets a huge boost from its top creative consultant, Rob Deamer, who is a long time LAPD cop. R/HD, I think, will be one of the best shows of the new season. It has a great cast and I think it could be a real surprise breakout hit. Firefly is a show I have had high hopes but so far the trailers make me think it could be a Chris Carter syndrome (make one great show and bomb the rest of the way).
The only returning show I am watching on Fridays is Law and Order: SVU. This show had a dip last year and I am really unsure if they can pull it out. I do believe the original Law and Order can be saved but this show might have hit a wall.
2002-2003 Season, CSI, Dinotopia, ER, Friends, Push, Nevada, Without a Trace: Thursday Nights
Wednesday 09.11.2002
MattM || 11:28 PM
On Thursday night 3 dramas and 3 sitcoms premiere. The sitcoms are as most are this year, nothing truly special. Family Affair, a remake of a late 60's sitcom has a solid cast but an old concept, it could work, it might not and I really do not care either way. Do Over is the half hour version of That Was Then so I will be writing about this show tomorrow as well as today. Two sitcoms back to back on WB and not one is an orginal idea, what a shock. This "ultimate wish" fulfillment of going back and reliving and redoing your high school years is just like during the 80's when I swear they made about 7 or 8 movies with this same concept all in a row. This one is bad bad bad bad bad. The last sitcom is Good Morning Miami and only one thing can be said about this, a nun giving weather, NEXT. The dramas start with Dinotopia and you have to wonder who pissed off who here. Putting Dinotopia against Friends and Survivor is a death knell for this series which I have high hopes for after a solid late season three part miniseries. I hope they move this to another night like, say, Fridays at 8 where it can actually compete. Push, Nevada is going to bomb. The concept is revamp of Twin Peaks but this whole give away a million dollars thing is just trying to push the reality show concept way too far. Bad idea, worse concept, gone in 5 shows tops. Lastly is probably going to be the best show of this night: Without a Trace. A solid concept following the FBI's Missing Kids unit and a good cast, this show should thrive even against stiff competion from ER.
Of the returning shows I watch, Friends had best not marry Rachel off to Joey because, like Spuffy love, if that happens, the show is dead to me and good riddance. For the 10 MILLIONTH time, Rachel belongs with Ross, you do not spend 8 years building to that and then do a 180. When Matt LeBlanc goes public against the idea of Joey plus Rachel, you know you're doing something wrong. CSI should have a very interesting season, they have a real chance to humanize the characters, something they have lacked for a couple of seasons now. I think if they work something in about Sara Sidle's growth as a person, Grissom's impending deafness and maybe Catherine and her kids or Warrick relapsing, they can take this series to a whole new level. Finally ER, which had a very uneven year last year but this should be a whole new ballgame now. Gone are old cast members and finally Noah Wyle gets a chance to shine. I really believe this year could be one of their best and perhaps their last or next to last. I surely hope not though. I think they could make this series last another 5 to 8 years if done right.
2002-2003 Season, Bernie Mac, Birds of Prey, Ed, Enterprise, Fastlane, Law & Order, Presidio Med: Wednesday Nights
Tuesday 09.10.2002
MattM || 09:42 AM
Wednesday must be Tuesday's opposite. On this day we have 5 dramas and 1 one sitcom. The lonely sitcom is Cedric the Entertainer, 1/2 hour sketch variety show. Even with a strong lead in from Bernie Mac, I seriously doubt this show will make it. The format is hard enough and the talent is lacking. The 5 dramas consist of two identical medical shows in MDs and Presido Med, a remake of the classic Twlight Zone, A Fast and the Furious rip off, and a new comic book adaption show. Starting with the medical dramas which I think will both resoundly bomb. Presido Med is clearly the worst of the two but who can tell the difference. Both have good casts but both will suck audience members off of each other. Both use the Evil HMO's versus the good and valiant doctors formula and, well, basically they are the same and both suck. I will give them a watch but I do not think it will be more then one episode for each. The Twlight Zone remake I think will be ok but not great. It is hard to go wrong with such a winning formula and ability to change cast and directors whenever something goes wrong. Nothing can approach the orginal, this is what should have been put after Buffy, not the Haunted. Fastlane (they couldn't even get an orginal title) is such a rip off of the horrendous Fast and Furious Movie. that I am sure it will surpass Fast and Furious in how awful it is. I will watch it once just because there is nothing else when it debuts but come on, the cast alone is horrible enough. Lastly is the show that I am looking most forward to but realizing it could be the worst of this horrible lot. Birds of Prey takes the old Marvel Formula which I was so fond of, What If. What if Batman and Catwoman had a child. What if the Joker found out? Throw in a pre-insane Harley Quinn and a Barbara Gordon to boot, it has the makings of a great story, now can they pull it off? I do not know but I sure hope so.
On the returning shows I will be watching, all are in need of bounce back years. Ed has alot of unresolved questions and it is a total mystery which way they will go and with the drug arrest of one of the co-stars and how that will affect everything is also a great unknown. I truly hope they resolve the Ed/Carol question, fast if she does get married to Dennis then have her off the show quickly. If she gets involved with Ed, it will probably kill the show. Also a lot less of Phil would be great. Enterprise had a somewhat disappointing run to me and should have been better, I hope that they finally get it and bring some edge to this vanilla series but I doubt it. I am sure we will have more of the same up and down season. Law and Order might just be saved by Fred Thompson as he should make the second half of the show more watchable without the boring liberal Diane Wiest. I do not hold much hope for this series though, to me the only way to save it is to oust just about everyone and start over. Lastly is my favorite, West Wing which had a down year last year but this being an election year and Rob Lowe's departure should make it a top notch year. If Birds of Prey comes through, for me this could be the best night of television right after Tuesday nights.
2002-2003 Season, 24, 8 Simple Rules, Buffy, Haunted, Hidden Hills, Smallville: Tuesday Nights
Monday 09.09.2002
MattM || 05:19 AM
I am renaming this lemming night. You know, if one lemming goes over the cliff so does the other 100 or so. A total of 5 sitcoms debut on this night and who wants to take a bet that only 1 of them survives. The lonely drama debuts on UPN after Buffy, Haunted aka I see dead people, looks mediocre at best. A P.I. nearly dies and now he sees things. Party of Five alum Matt Fox stars in this and I will probably watch it once and laugh and turn it off. The 5 sitcoms are mostly laughable in the sense that they look so bad. Starting with 8 Simple Rules and the tired concept of two teen daughters and one younger son. The only thing that makes it at all worth taking a look is John Ritter who is a solid comedic actor. Life with Bonnie has some talent on with Bonnie Hunt and David Alan Grier in it but the concept seems kind of Full House-ish with her being the host of a local TV show and her family life etc etc. That being said I think if any of these has a shot, it is probably this one. Less then Perfect also carries a heavyweight in Andy Dick but yet he is not even the star of the show. The show centers around an office temp who deals with pushy co-workers. Not to sure how this will work but shows a little promise at least. In-Laws seems to have a very solid cast but the concept is so tired. Hidden Hills (saved for last for a reason) appears to be the worst of this lot. Although a somewhat novel concept in the adventures of suburbia, I somehow doubt it will last more then a show or two.
The returning shows on this night are what make this interesting. Buffy, of course, leads the way in what could be the final season although my hunch is there will be an 8th with SMG but then it will be turned over to Dawn. Unlike my sister, I actually have a little faith in Michelle T. (I am not even going to try to spell that name) although I have nothing to base this on except a hunch. I do look forward to see the aftermath of last season and where they go from here, although if Spuffy love returns this show is dead to me. Smallville is another show I can not wait for and I consistently hear rumors that one of Clark's parents is going to bite it and if so I think his father has to be the one to go. It makes the most sense casting and story wise. Although casting Martha Kent was an adventure for them. If you watch the first show when his parents truck is tipped over during the metor storm that is actually the orginal Martha Kent actoress in the car not current one. There is so many reasons though to look forward to this season from Lex and his father and the Clark/Chloe/Lana triangle and the space ship and the parents. I can not wait. Finally there is 24. I am totally unsure of what they are going to do with this show now. This could be really good even better then the somewhat uneven 1st season or really terrible.
2002-2003 Season, Boston Public, CSI: Miami, Third Watch: Monday Nights
Saturday 09.07.2002
MattM || 11:20 PM
The new shows on Monday night consist of 3 dramas and 2 sitcoms. Clearly the most eagerly awaited show is CSI: Miami. I was not overwhelmed by the introduction of this show last season and I am still unsure if this is going to be good. All the pieces are in place to make this as big as CSI but will they give its own distinct flavor or will it just be more of the same? Will they change (here's hoping they do) Catherine Duke's character because if I have to listen to a full season of her prattling to the dead bodies I am turning my TV off. The other two dramas are more than likely going to be horrible. Girl's Club and Everwood continue to show that there is no such thing as an orginal thought in Hollywood. Everwood aka The Male Version of the Gillmore girls will be a total flop. Girl's Club aka Ally McBeal 2 will more than likely succeed at first with great reviews and then crash and burn like all David Kelly shows. The two sitcoms are Half and Half and Still Standing show no potential at all. Still Standing is about a couple with a rebellous daughter, a geek of a son, and a young daughter that still loves her parents. This has to be the 20 gadzillionth recarnation of this concept and they rarely work. Adding to this is the no-name cast. Half and Half about two half sisters who are total opposites is also a dud and in its 20 gadzillionth recarnation.
As for the returning shows on Monday that I watch, Third Watch and Boston Public are very much enigmas to me. Third Watch barely survived for a 4th season and has been good one year and bad the next. Which means it is due for a bad year but here's hoping that the series has found itself and will have yet another year. Boston Public is yet another David Kelly show bent on self destruction. The Supremes are broken up but the New Kid on the Block joins the show. I have a strong feeling that come October I will quit watching this show in disgust.
2002-2003 Season, Roswell, Stargate SG-1: Whining Part VI, Odds and Ends
Friday 09.06.2002
alice ttlg || 09:23 PM
Miscellaneous shows on cable or outside of prime-time
Andromeda, a nifty TV version of Star Wars, lots of fancy weapons, special effects, a hero (Captain Hunt as Luke Skywalker), a rogue-ish first mate (Beka Valentine as a female Han Solo), a growly hairball (Tyr Anasazi as Chewbacca), a princess (Romi as Leia), a mystic (Rev Bem as Obi-Wan Kenobi), a geeky fix anything (Harper as R2D2) and a mostly useless type who sometimes comes thru in a pinch (Trance as C3PO)! Adventure Inc., based on a real life treasure hunter but embellished more than a bit for TV, it's got Michael Biehn and two good looking bodies for the important teen demographics. Probably a flop but I'll watch anything with Michael in it. Stargate SG-1 starts reruns on Sci-Fi on Mondays from 6pm to 10pm of the first four seasons, then hopefully they'll air the fifth and sixth so I can see all the eps. Roswell, Once a Thief: Roswell is supposed to air on Sci-Fi this fall but so far I haven't seen anything. Once a Thief is a Canadian series based on John Woo's movie which stars Nick Lea and it's a wicked satire of the whole James Bond, superspy thing. It's syndicated, airing on a little local channel here, no info yet on when it starts.2002-2003 Season, Firefly, John Doe, Law & Order: SVU, The District: Whining Part V, Friday and Saturday
Friday 09.06.2002
alice ttlg || 09:05 PM
Friday
Firefly, John Doe: Firefly, hmm, well, it's Joss so I'll watch it, but something is slightly off and it reminds me of Crusade (motley crew, aftermath of war) which I liked more. John Doe sounds intriguing although my brother totally hates it already. It's got the hook of the main character being totally color-blind except for certain things or people being in color and that's the clues to whatever he's trying to solve. The website doesn't give much info so it's hard to tell, the previews have looked decent tho. Hack, I haven't bothered to talk much about the really bad looking new shows but I have to take a moment here for this one, disgraced cop abandoned by his family becomes crime-fighting cabbie???? Wayyyyy past the bottom of the barrel. Robbery/Homicide Division, hmm, I can't find much info about this one either but it's Tom Sizemore so I'll check it out, the competition.... Law & Order: SVU isn't that interesting anymore either which reinforces my idea that the L&O franchise is running out of steam. This next season will tell...Saturday
One lone show in prime-time! Yeesh! The District, still a favorite for Anthony Lapaglia's little brother, Jonathan, I love the character and I like some of the others so I can ignore most of the dreck. I just hope they stay away from the Russian mob plotline, bored now.2002-2003 Season, Birds of Prey, CSI, Dinotopia, ER, Enterprise, Fastlane, Friends, Law & Order, Presidio Med, Push, Nevada, Will & Grace, Without a Trace: Whining Part IV, Wednesday and Thursday
Friday 09.06.2002
alice ttlg || 07:44 PM
Wednesday
Presidio Med, MDs: We're big on medical shows this year (and cop/firefighter dramas). Presidio Med looks like it'll be awful show, although it has some good actors in it, Dana Delany, Blythe Danner and Oded Fehr who was marvelous in the short lived UC: Undercover last year. MDs also has some great actors, William Fichtner and John Hannah but it doesn't look much better. Fastlane, Twilight Zone, Birds of Prey: A Fast and Furious ripoff, a remake and a superhero show....my brother is excited about Birds of Prey but it just doesn't interest me. I will watch it tho, give it a chance but the storyline is beyond my familiarity with Batman (from back in the 60's and early 70's). West Wing, best thing on Wednesdays, one of the top shows, great cast, well written, nuff said. My Wife and Kids, I can't remember why I watched this show one night but I did and it was pretty good, so I started taping it during the summer, some of it has been painfully bad but overall, pretty decent and since there's not much else to watch at 7pm except... Enterprise, which I like but....it's just missing something, doesn't have the same punch that Star Trek TNG had and that theme song has got to go! Law & Order, oh yeah, another L&O that I always forget about, they seem to have lost the point of throwing in some personal touches so that we know who these detectives and lawyers are. Green has been a black hole since he came on the show. But Fred Thompson may liven up the last half hour so it might be worth watching again.Thursday
For *maybe* one season, I could sit down at 7 on Thursday and watch NBC for three hours.[Sean adds] How can you diss on fastlane? Fastlane is the best show on tv right now better than all that other garbage. (December 24, 2002 12:07 AM)
[alice ttlg adds] Well, actually what you commented on was written before the show aired and when it did start airing, I liked it fairly well, but lately, the last three or four eps have been pretty boring, they started off well but lost their edge somewhere so I quit watching. But I didn't like Fast and the Furious either, I thought that was a wretched movie. And now it's taking the time slot of one of my favorite new shows, Firefly, stupid Fox! (December 24, 2002 10:05 AM)
2002-2003 Season, 24, Buffy, Frasier, Haunted, Hidden Hills, Judging Amy, Smallville: Whining Part III, Tuesday
Friday 09.06.2002
alice ttlg || 06:12 PM
Tuesday
Well, this used to be a night packed full of all kinds of really great shows, now it's sort of a jumbled mess and still too many things on at 8pm to tape all at once. Sitcoms: In-Laws, Just Shoot Me, Frasier, Hidden Hills on NBC and Life with Bonnie on ABC. In-Laws and Hidden Hills are just filler, Just Shoot Me is okay, Frasier is one of my two absolutely favorite sitcoms (the other being Friends) and I love Bonnie Hunt, so I'm hoping her show turns out good. Buffy, still one of the best shows around and it looks like they'll build up to a blockbuster ending with Faith showing up for five eps on Buffy and three eps on Angel near the end of the upcoming season. I don't know what happens after this year, I'm not that interested in "Dawn the Vampire Slayer", I would love to see "Faith the Vampire Slayer" but I doubt we'll get that, Eliza Dushku is more interested in movies right now (and getting bigger parts finally!) 8pm blockbusters, 24, Guardian and Smallville: This is VCR killer time! It'll be interesting to see what they do with 24, will they change the credits voiceover to something more reasonable? Or will it be "the second longest day of his life"? Guardian, this show just keeps getting better and better, I usually watch something else and tape this and watch a bunch of eps all at once and I always go "wow", lots of layers, lots of great people in the cast, Dabney Coleman is a more realistic version of Lionel Luther, the harsh father who lets out a bit of feeling every now and then and then goes back to pushing his son relentessly. Simon Baker walks a fine line, revealing just enough of his character's repressed emotions so that we know how much his father can and has hurt him over the years, then closing up again and showing that invulnerable facade that Nick hides behind. And Smallville, best superhero show around, all the standard comic book characters and story lines but with all the heart and youthful hormones necessary to bring it to life. Haunted, I dunno, this really looks atrocious but I will probably watch a few eps at least since it's on after Buffy. 9pm leftovers, Judging Amy and NYPD Blue, Amy's one of my favorite prime-time soaps, nice blend of soap and legal drama with Tyne Daly serving as a strong counterpoint to Amy's yuppie whinings. NYPD Blue, wow, such an improvement last year with the addition of Mark-Paul Gosselaer! I had pretty much given the show up for dead with Jimmy Smits and then Rick Schroder's disappointing run but last year turned everything around and it's almost as good as the first year! The new lieutenant played excellently by Esai Morales and the two new female characters, Charlotte Ross and Jacqueline Obradors have brought so much life to the show. I like Kim Delaney and I really miss Philly but I'm glad she's not coming back to NYPD Blue, her character had really run its course and to bring her back now would be a bad thing.2002-2003 Season, Boomtown, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Practice: Whining Part II, Sunday and Monday
Friday 09.06.2002
alice ttlg || 05:00 PM
Sunday
Bram and Alice, okay I have no idea if this show will be any good and I don't even know what it's really about, but my online nick is alice ttlg and I have a friend on a mailing list who goes by the nick of Bram so people have made jokes about us having our own TV show so I have to watch it! :) Boomtown, clone of Third Watch but it's got a decent cast, including Jason Gedrick (as I sit here watching my tapes of Murder One) and I can watch it instead of the wretched mess that David Kelly has made out of the Practice. Alias, the Practice, Angel: Alias is now one of my favorite new shows from last season, along with Smallville, I think I'll rewatch my tapes of that before the new season starts. Angel, well, it's sort of a mess now too and not in a good way but I'll see if they can salvage it this year. Law & Order: CI, I always forget about this one! It was kind of boring at the beginning of last year but then I watched the tail end of the season and reruns during the summer and it got better. Plus it's rerun on USA after prime-time so I can catch it then if I miss it on Sunday nights.Monday
Third Watch night! Best show I found late, thank God for reruns on A&E! Don't bother calling me between 10 and 11 pm on Mondays thru Thursdays! And I sure hope they don't kill off Faith's husband, I don't want to see her as a single mom/widow, although since the Blackout ep was supposed to be beginning of the season last year (till 9/11 happened and they rewrote the first three eps), I wonder if they would have killed him off and spent the season with Faith dealing with that (and with cancer). Instead they dealt with 9/11, Taylor and her dad and brought to a head a lot of stuff that's been following Bosco around for awhile and gave us some of the best TV expressions of 9/11. Crossing Jordan, Boston Public, 7th Heaven: Crossing Jordan started to get better near the end of last season and then they trashed it in the last two eps with the whole mother plot line and it starts the 2nd season. I sure hope they resolve it in the first ep and move on, the show is much better when it focuses on the entire cast, Mel Ferrer is fabulous as a jazzy retro 60's guy with a teen age daughter and ex-wife and the aborted romance with Lily was fun to watch. Then there's Bug and the English guy and his attempts to get married for his green card, the ensemble cast makes this show, the poor little girl who lost her mom unravels it all. Boston Public, ick, another show that Kelly is busy making a nasty mess of. 7th Heaven, my bit of sugar overdose, I wish they were keeping Matt's new wife around, she's great, fits in well with the family, too bad she has to go off to Columbia with hubby (and sorry to hear about the actor's illness, I hope he gets well soon!) CSI: Miami, maybe, just maybe, David Caruso has found another good TV role, now let's hope he's learned his lesson and doesn't pull any stunts after the first year or two. I love CSI, but I hope they vary this show enough to give it its own personality, not just a clone of CSI with bikinis thrown in. Girls Club, I plan to watch this, but seriously I have no real hope for it, given the state of the Practice and Boston Public (and the departed Ally McBeal), I'm beginning to think that Kelly has lost his touch and the plot of this show doesn't even sound good.2002-2003 Season: Whining
Friday 09.06.2002
alice ttlg || 04:59 PM
There's nothing to watch on TV! Gah, it's either feast or famine, either too much and I'm dashing madly around to change tapes and channels and set timers or there's far too little and I stare at a stack of tapes I've already watching *twice* and bemoan the lack of anything on TV.
"57 channels and nothing on...."
It's the dry spell of early September. Summer shows are over and the new fall season hasn't started yet. A little over two weeks to go, I have the schedule, it's littered with way too many mediocre sounding new shows and a handful of really good returning shows.
2002-2003 Season, Firefly, Haunted, John Doe: FOX and UPN
Thursday 05.16.2002
MattM || 11:42 PM
Let's start with the easy schedule. UPN new shows include a Twilight Zone remake, I see dead people and solve crimes (Haunted) and strange neighbors (Half and Half). Ok guys you win, you get the worst new shows of the year. Congrats to UPN. I don't think I need to say much more.
FOX on the other hand has the show I am most looking forward too in Firefly. Still the cancelling of Dark Angel for John Doe (guy rises out of the primordial ooze to solve crimes) infuriates me to no end. This is so typical of FOX cancelling good shows for trash TV like Search for a Centerfold, Celebrity Boxing, Temptation Island and on and on and on and on. FOX no longer believes in shows and gives them chances (see Party of Five) instead it shoves garbage year after year after year and people still with mindless brainless Jerry Springer watching idiots turning out in droves for it. After Firefly and John Doe there isn't much else except a slew of mediocre sitcoms and dramas. Septuplets zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz sorry not my kind of show sounds like a 7th Heaven rip off. Fastlane looks like some sort of Fast and Furious but not alot of info is out for this show yet. Overall an orange rating for this network line up. Bad year for new shows.
2002-2003 Season, CSI: Miami, Presidio Med, The Agency, The District: CBS
Thursday 05.16.2002
MattM || 06:19 AM
I was hoping I would be writing about a FOX line up too but for some reason FOX is holding theirs back. CBS fall line up is fourth straight unimpressive line up. Again copycat shows and dumb shows reign supreme. That being said, CBS has hit the scoreboard: two shows I look forward to is something no one else can lay claim too. On Monday we have the unconventional parent show in Still Standing and CSI: Miami. The latter I can't wait for, it shows as much promise as the orginal. No new shows on Tuesday. On Wednesday we have Presido Med (what is up with all the San Francisco shows) an ER rip off with Dana Delany. I'lll give this show a watch but I don't have high hopes for this show. Thursday is the one show I am actually pretty excited about. The CSI team hard at work (can we say milk our best team for all the shows they can make) gives us Without a Trace. The show is about an FBI task force dedicated solely to missing persons. On Friday two new shows, one dumb, one a maybe. Hack is just dumb. Cop turned taxi driver solves crimes????? I sure hope they have its mid season replacement in line. RHD/LA could acutally be really good but I just can't get that excited about it. It stars Tom Sizemore in supposed realistic look at the LAPD (hey you can't go wrong there right) and it has Michael Mann as the producer. On Saturday they bring back the Agency (YEA) but after the District (oh no more crossovers). On Sundays Bram and Alice debuts and this one should last about a month. Overall another yellow rating in a blah new season coming up.
2002-2003 Season, Birds of Prey, Boomtown, Charmed, Dinotopia, Frasier, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Push, Nevada: NBC, WB, and ABC
Tuesday 05.14.2002
MattM || 04:00 PM
Well, the first batch of new shows is in and so far, it isn't too promising on NBC. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday all remain unchanged (with the exception of flip flopping Scrubs and Just Shoot Me) in what has to be a record amount of stability. Still, the few remaining new shows are not very awe inspiring. Tuesday will consist of two comedies past their prime in Frasier and Just Shoot me and two new comedies that will probably not last a month, Hidden Hills (secret lives and hilarity of surburbanites) and In Laws (married couple moves in with wife's parents, um, how many times has this been done, a 100? 200? probably more). Thursday will see only one new comedy in Good Morning Miami, a creation by the people of Will and Grace. These shows might have possibilities but it's way too early to say at this point. Moving to Sundays, where the big changes occurred, has the only two new NBC dramas. Leading off will be a family growing up in the 60s and 70s (can you say Wonder Years?) in American Dreams. Then comes Law and Order: CI. And to conclude the night, the only show on all of NBC I might watch, Boomtown. That being said, this is just Third Watch goes to LA. Bottom line: Very below average look for new shows on NBC.
The WB new line up looks even less promising. By and large, the new shows look awful. The only good news is moving Angel behind Charmed on Sunday nights (VCRs will be burning with Alias and CI also on at 8). The only new show that I have any excitement for is Birds of Prey. This is a Batman spinoff with alternate twists. In this show, the Joker has succeeded in killing Catwoman and driving Batman from Gotham for good. Batgirl, now seriously injured and in a wheel chair, Barbara Gordon transforms herself in to the Oracle. Ashly Scott plays the daughter of Catwoman and Batman who becomes Gotham's next hero. Word is also Harley Quinn figures into this somehow but previously she was insane and had been the Joker's side kick, so I am not sure how that will work. I have a lot of hope though for this series as it is from the creators of Smallville.
ABC comes with an equally weak schedule. Philly will not be back and I feel that is a loss as they have not replaced it with anything of merit. Bonnie Hunt's sitcom shows some promise and maybe Dinotopia can capture some magic.......but somehow I doubt it. The other shows are doctors versus evil HMOs (Meds) and Back to the Future (That was Then). Maybe Push, Nevada can get some Twin Peaks magic but again I doubt. So far the fall line ups with half in look to be very bleak with only Birds of Prey really capturing my attention. Well here's hoping CBS, UPN, and FOX do better.
[Siris Crabb adds] This thing wasn't good,yet it wasn't bad.They need better actors.I watced it for intertainment and Le Sage was a little funny.I would give it a 6.As I said,it was rather intertaining. (March 27, 2003 04:09 PM)
[Marion Waldo adds] When I first saw the siries,two words poped into my mind."poor actors"I was a little confused when I first saw it,with a diffrent cast and all.After the first comerical brake,I caught on to it.ABC did a wonderful job with the movie,so this was a big D-I-S-S-A-P-I-O-N-T-M-E-N-T !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The outsiders never exsisted before.It was confusing,I mean VERY confusing.ABC did not do a good job on this. (March 27, 2003 04:35 PM)
[MattM adds] Ok I have no idea what you two are talking about but I am guessing Dinotopia? If thats the case I agree with you Marion disappointment is the right word. They did a great job with the mini series then just blew that apart with bad acting. (March 28, 2003 06:32 AM)
[glo adds] I can't find Whoopi on t.v.anymore. What happened? One week it is on Tues. the next, Wed. Then a rerun. What's going on? I love that show and want to see it every week the same night and time. Not this back and forth, up and down. (February 17, 2004 10:53 AM)
[alice ttlg adds] It's still on Tuesdays at 7pm but I guess it's getting pre-empted a lot. It's not on tonight (2/17) but it is on next Tuesday, 2/24. (February 17, 2004 11:38 AM)
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