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 by Scott Tipton  by Chris Ryall  by Scott Bowden  by Joshua Jabcuga  by Jud Meyers    |  Ron Twoeagle |
ONE HAND CLAPPING
By Chris Ryall
2009-08-17 - TV Recommendations
TV RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING AUGUST 17, 2009:
Well, after 169 columns here at Comics101.com and a few hundred more TV-related columns at the previous MoviePoopShoot.com site, I'm stepping aside for a while to focus on all the recent comic-book writing that's hit me. But I do have a hard time quitting making dumb jokes about TV, so we'll see if I mean it this time. At any rate, I appreciate the patronage here every week, the comments from those of you have told me you liked this goofiness, and of course to Scott Tipton, my web-partner-in-crime these past 7+ years. Don't start watching bad TV just because I'm not around to make you think twice about it, though...
Anyway, let's do this, business as usual for one more week:
MONDAY, AUGUST 17
GLENN MARTIN, DDS -- 8 PM, Nick
(Series Premiere!) Nickelodeon really knows what kids like. This new show features Kevin Nealon voicing a character who drives around in an RV and works as a dentist. Kids adore dentists. What next, MARATHON MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES?
FLIPPING OUT -- 10 PM, Bravo
(Season Premiere!) A real estate investor takes a job as a fashion designer because of the economy's woes. But I see no reason to also give the viewers woes with this lame idea.
THE LATE SHOW -- 11:35 PM, CBS
The only real question with both Quentin Tarantino and Robert Cray as guests is whether or not Tarantino will stop talking long enough to allow Cray to actually sing a song in the last five minutes of the show.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 18
MIAMI SOCIAL -- 10 PM, Bravo
(Season Finale!) This show is about... um... well, it's on Bravo, which likely means it has a fashion component to it. And the other similarity it shares with all other Bravo shows is that I don't want to watch it.
SHAQ TREATMENT -- 9 PM, ABC
(Series Premiere!) Shaq is bidding to be the first athlete to ever suffer a career-ending injury because of a reality show, as he swims against Michel Phelps, plays beach volleyball with Walsh and May-Treanor, and other sports he's not known for. Can't wait for him to get in a free-throw contest with an NBA athlete who can actually make those, too.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19
BLACK GOLD -- 10 PM, Tru
(Season Premiere!) Another season of milkshake-drinking. Or has the relevance of that quote already faded away?
THURSDAY, AUGUST 20
PROJECT RUNWAY -- 10 PM, Lifetime
(Season Premiere!) Evidently this show was gone for a long time? It's hard to think that that's true since Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum have managed to be on TV one way or another for every single day of the past year. But anyway, it's back, if you possibly missed it.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 21
EUREKA -- 9 PM, SyFy
One good thing about stopping the column now is I won't have to type "SyFy" any more. But this show deserves a look despite that bad name-change. And tonight, they bring in THE 4400's Billy Campbell to help convince you of that fact.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 22
ACCEPTANCE -- 9 PM, Lifetime
Q: "Is there any reason to watch this?" A: "Maebe." As in, Maebe from ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT co-stars with Joan Cusack, who pulls a Jeremy Piven and actually steps away from safety blanket John Cusack to play a mom of a college kid here.
BEING HUMAN -- 9 PM, BBC America
What's not to like about a show where the ghost character is inspired by Patrick Swayze in GHOST, like she is in tonight's episode?
RHYS DARBY LIVE: IMAGINE THAT -- 12 AM, Comedy
This is almost a vote of confidence from Comedy Central for Rhys, the FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS band manager, since they gave him a stand-up special. Of course, they gave him the 12 AM timeslot, ensuring that less people will see this than got subjected to Joan Rivers' face a few weeks ago. Then again, DVR is the great equalizer now.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 23
WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE -- 8 PM, ABC
(Season Finale!) Evidently Regis does, since he came back to do this show for its entire season.
AMERICA'S BEST DANCE CREW -- 9 PM, MTV
Beyonce shows up to help judge the best dancers. But really, until any of these dancers can do a good "robot" AND do the worm backwards and forwards, I don't see how they can be considered the best.
ICE ROAD TRUCKERS -- 9 PM, History
(Season Finale!) I feel pretty safe in saying that there's no crossover between the people featured on this show and its audience with the cast and audience of AMERICA'S BEST DANCE CREW.
TRUE BLOOD -- 9 PM, HBO
Just because I won't be back next week to talk about how you should be watching this show (and RESCUE ME, and, next month, IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA!) doesn't mean you should slack off now. It's been a great season so far.
All listings are Pacific Standard Time and all opinions have never been able to stay away for long before, so we'll see how long the hiatus lasts this time...