I could try to bluff, but I got nothing. Check out this list of new TV on DVD releases. I’m at the swim-up bar. I’ll be back starting Monday. Unless I get a job swim-up bartending.
The Fugitive: Season 2, Vol. 2
HIlarious House of Frightenstein: Igormania
In Plain Sight: Season 1
Hope and Faith: Season 1
Jim Gaffigan: King Baby
Milton Berle Show, Vol. 3
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: Season 4, Vol. 1
– Denise Duguay
Things have been a little slow for the past month in the realm of TV on DVD. But this week? Ayoy! Andy Richter is currently preparing to rejoin Conan O’Brien as a talk-show team when O’Brien launches his Tonight Show on June 1, but not too long ago, he had a culty sitcom, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, which is now released as a full-series set. Also of note, In Treatment, the angsty HBO series following a handful of a therapist’s patients in their weekly sessions, is now available on disc. But the killer release is a title stuck for 40 years in the way-back machine: Room 222. If you’re too young to remember Karen Valentine as a dewy cheeked young thing and too young to remember when seeing a black actor in a leading role (Lloyd Haynes) was crazy rare, you should check out this classroom drama. I loved it at age 9. I was always smart for my age.
Now I’ve got to get back to my vacation. I have a swimming lesson at 2 p.m. to prepare for that daily dog paddle to the swim-up bar down in the tropics. I knew you’d understand.
Here are some other TV-on-DVD releases:
Midsomer Murders: Set 12
The Venture Bros.: Season 3
In Treatment: Season 1
The Riches: Season 2
Room 222: Season One (1969)
Stargate SG-1: Season 9
Taggart: Set 1
Craig Ferguson: A Wee Bit o’ Revolution
Runaway: The Complete Series
The Life and Times of Tim: Season 1
American Experience: The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Living with the Wolfman: Season 1
Star Wars: Clone Wars (Special Edition)
– Denise Duguay
I keep telling myself I’m on vacation and yet here I am, ignoring another gorgeous blue sky for the pale blue glow of the computer screen. Frak it. After these five sentences about my beloved Battlestar Galactica — and the 2 skimpy TV on DVD blog posts that I have “post” dated to appear over the next two weeks — I am gone fishin until April 6.
1. Battlestar Galactica wraps up its four-season run Friday, March 20 with a two-hour finale starting at 9 p.m. ET on Space: The Imagination Station, which follows with a live fan forum at 11 p.m. ET which offers “An in-depth chat about the series finale of Battlestar Galactica and the legacy the show leaves behind.”
2. If you are a sometimes fan, you can catch up by watching or recording a repeat of the final run of episodes leading up to Friday’s finale. The marathon starts at 11 a.m. ET Friday on Space.
3. If you don’t know anything about this show, forget about the Friday finale. I’d love to say you should watch and appreciate it for the spectacular head trip/social commentary/inspirational drama that it is. But I am a little lost myself and I think it would just wreck it for a band-wagoneer. Go back to the miniseries that launches the series. It’s worth all four seasons. So say we all.
4. Stop your shaking. The next fix of the BSG universe will come April 21 when Caprica will be released exclusively on DVD. That’s the pilot episode of the series set in the time when the Cylons are created, focussing on the Adama and Greystone families. Esai Morales and Eric Stoltz are among the stars. The full series is set for release sometime in 2010 (Space has not yet committed to the Sci-Fi Channel Syfy Channel series, but we live in hope). On April 21, we’ll get the Caprica series pilot plus a load of extras.
5. Still trembling? Here’s a little something about the post-BSG Cylon-centred movie (bcast date eta) called The Plan. It’s an interview with director and BSG vet Edward James Olmos, courtesy of E! Online.
– Denise Duguay
Remember when there was only one kind of vinegar? When the only lettuce was iceberg? When broccoli was invented?
Oh wait, most of that was definitely just me, living in a single-parent family headed, during most of the 1970s, by my dad and filled out by my two younger brothers. Gourmet was cheese slices on the Minute Rice. Most of the home-cooked food was eaten in somebody else’s dining room. Oh we survived, largely with the help of Campbell’s, Kraft and Captain Highliner. But discovering, publically of course, that broccoli had been around for quabillions of years? Embarrassing. But also liberating.
You, I trust, were never so sheltered. But it’s likely that 10 years ago or more, you also did not have, say, balsamic vinegar at the ready. Nor the spices to make your own curry blend. Or soy milk. Or know the name of the nearest sushi house.
Cheaper travel, the web and the proliferation of cable television are just some of the factors that have gathered many of us at the global food table, where you can eat almost anything from almost anywhere. Even more choice if you prefer to cook it yourself.
A new Doc Zone series starting on CBC Thursday, March 19 takes a four-part look at our changed and changing relationship with food and from the two hours I’ve sampled, it’s worth watching, not least because it’s shot in glorious HD (what ARE you waiting for?). Montrealers, take special note: chef Ricardo and food writer Adam Gollner are among the local experts called upon.
The Great Food Revolution: A Citizen’s Guide to Eating in the 21st Century starts it off March 19 at 8 p.m. ET on CBC with The Great Food Revolution, which clocks the arrival of sushi in California as well as the more recent advent of salad in a bag. It looks at the explosion of food television, food magazines and books and our love affair with food images in same, and the democratization of Modena, Italy’s balsamic vinegar. Nothing, as you’d expect, about the invention of broccoli. Ah well.
Part 2, the Battle to Get on Your Plate at 9 p.m. ET on March 19, looks at the race to create or capture the next everyday staple: last year, 18,000 new products were developed for North American alone, with only 10 per cent making the cut.
Part 3 — airing at 8 p.m. ET on March 26 — my fave of the bunch, is a look at the food life of the second* best city in the world. 24 Hours, 24 Million Meals: Feeding New York begins with the midnight frenzy at Hunts Point in the Bronx, one of the largest food distribution facilities in the world. Let the haggling begin. Then on to a midtown bakery where 1,000 ciabattas are being hand thumped in preparation for delivery to just one sandwich maker. Over in Vermont, at about 3 a.m., a bleary eyed cheesemaker loads her van and begins the four-hour drive to Union Square Market, where she sells twice a week to foodies and top chefs. Back in Hunts Point, at The New Fulton Fish Market, vendors are dropping their prices. In the produce section, a silver-smiled agent for City Harvest is beginning his nightly rounds of asking for donations of slightly-off-perfect wares. In a few hours, one of the soup kitchens he supplies will be buzzing under the direction of a chef who left his boutique resto after 9/11. Later still in a much swankier kitchen, a truffle seller fresh off the plane from Italy sweats through price negotiation with famous chef Daniel Boulud.
Part 4, Food the Future, follows at 9 p.m. ET on March 26 on CBC makes some educated guesses about what we’ll be eating in five years. Jamie Oliver helps out.
Here’s the website, where you can get details on your chances of winning an iPod Touch. Can’t cook without one, apparently.
* Winnipeg, of course, being the best city in the world.
Series name
Better Off Ted
Debuts
Wednesday, March 18 at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC
Regularly airs
Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. ET
Premise
Ted is an exec at Veridian Dynamics, where he runs an R&D team that can make anything happen, most of the time. Weaponize a pumpkin? No problem. Create a mouse (animal type) that can withstand the temperature of almost 200 F? Done. Freeze the brain of an underling to see it if can be done? Ummmm?
Primary cast and crew
Jay Harrington (Private Practice, Desperate Housewives) is Ted. Smiles a lot.
Portia de Rossi (Arrested Development) is Veronica, Ted’s boss. Humourless, even by satirical standards.
Andrea Anders (The Class, Joey, Oz — Ow! I just got whiplash writing those three titles within two parentheses!) is Linda, pain in Ted’s progress report and object of his desire.
Jonathan Slavin (My Name Is Earl, Summerland, Andy Richter Controls the Universe) is Phil, research partner with…
Malcolm Barrett (Monk, Psych, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) is Phil’s partner, Lem. They have to deal with the crazy demands.
Maz Jobrani (Knights of Prosperity), brilliant comic from last year’s Just for Laughs) is Dr. Bhamba, zealous researcher.
Victor Fresco (My Name Is Earl, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Andy Richter Controls the Universe) is creator and exec.
10-minute preview clip (yes, it’s worth it)
Buzz buzz
Portia de Rossi talks to the L.A. Times on her marriage to Ellen DeGeneres, the fact that she is not, repeat not, pregnant, and on working on another series.
Mediaweek talks to Victor Fresco about corporate ethics as comedy and the lessons learned (or not) from Andy Richter Controls the Universe. Here’s the (three-minute) video.
But what do I know anyway? After NOT having seen the pilot I predict…
Cross Arrested Development with 39 Rock and The Office. Some of you (us!) will find this funny to the point of cramping up. Others? Please see: Arrested Development and Andy Richter Controls the Universe and their ratings-challenged, but critically acclaimed runs.
Other reviews
Tim Goodman at the San Francisco Chronicle likes the weird funny, but worries (a little) that the soft side of Ted — he’s a single dad — will moulder the good parts.
Televisionary and the Boston Herald also like it quite a bit.
ABC website and Veridian Dynamics site
Lots of video on both sites, with more and better product and staff description on the VD site. I thought there’d be more fun stuff, but not so far.
Wondering when other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for the complete and updated list of mid-season premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
My vacation plans: To catch up on DVDs. One in my pile is Season 1 of Head Case, about a shrink to the stars. I’ll report back. No, really! Until then, here’s a goodish interview with Alexandra Wentworth, star of the series that is now in its second season Mondays at 9:30 p.m. ET on Super Channel.
Here are some other new releases of TV on DVD.
Barney Miller: Season 3
JAG: Season 8
Married with Children: Season 10
The Nanny: Season 3
The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 5: 1946-48
Mr. Belvedere: Seasons 1 and 2
The F Word: Series 2
Hollywood Residential: Season 1
Frontline: Dreams of Obama
Frontline: Shtetl
Ghost Hunters: Season 4, Part 2
– Denise Duguay
Series name
The Line
Debuts
Monday, March 16 at 10 p.m. ET on The Movie Network (but you can watch the first two episodes right now online).
Regularly airs
Mondays at 10 p.m. ET
Premise
The Movie Network describes it this way: “The Line follows a collection of cops, criminals and everybody in between as they intersect then fall with the rhythms of a combustible suburban wasteland (Scarborough). At the centre of this world are Max and Donny, two cops who are as morally ambiguous as the criminals they pursue. Max has lost interest in conventional police work and has developed his own methods for dealing with the criminals he’s hell bent on destroying. Donny has almost been completely torn apart by the job, yet he remains optimistic in the face of his crumbling life.”
Primary cast and crew
Ron White (Tom Stone, Unforgiven) is Max, the more stable half of the team of the detectives at the centre of this cop drama, but that’s not saying much.
Daniel Kash (Lucky Number Slevin, The Dresden Files) is Donny. He might have cared once, but he’s lost, and not “lost” as is he’s one of the bad guys. He’s just lost.
Sharon Lawrence (NYPD Blue, Privileged) is Jayne, a burned out legal-aid lawyer and Max’s squeeze.
Cle Bennett (Instant Star, Da Kink in My Hair) is Carlos, a dealer just out of prison with anxiety issues and a kid he can’t see.
George F. Walker and Dani Romain (This Is Wonderland) are creators, writers and exec producers.
Linda Hamilton (Terminator: Salvation, Thief) is Carol, a grifter.
Ed Asner (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) is Jayne’s father.
Trailer
Buzz buzz
With a cast and creative team like this…
But what do I know anyway? After having watched the first two episodes I predict…
So much talent — from the execs Walker and Romain to actors Kash and White and Lawrence and Hamilton and Asner. But what? Was it just my mood? Or is it that this cops-as-morally-ambiguous-as-the-criminals drama is trying hard to hit the heights of The Wire without earning it? I should watch more episodes to see if the material rises to the skill level of this fine cast and crew. I should.
Official Movie Network website and the series’s own website
You can watch the first two episodes online right now at the Movie Network site and get more background at the series’ site.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for the complete and updated list of mid-season premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Series name
Kings
Debuts
Sunday, March 15, 8-10 p.m. ET on NBC
Regularly airs
Sundays at 8 p.m. ET
Premise
The NBC site describes this “alternative universe” “event” this way: “King Silas Benjamin is the well-entrenched king of Gilboa, whose flag bears a divine butterfly symbol. Gilboa has its capital in Shiloh, a clean new city that is unspoiled by time or litter. Silas must deal with the tensions rising between Gilboa and neighboring nation Gath. When several prisoners of war are taken, a young soldier, David Shepherd, defies orders and crosses enemy lines to save them. Unknown to David, the soldier he saves is Jack Benjamin (Sebastian Stan, “The Covenant”), the son of the king. From that day forth, David’s life will never be the same.”
Primary cast and crew
Ian McShane (Deadwood) is the king. Kneel.
Chris Egan (Eragon) is David. His life is about to change. Can he take it?
Sebastian Stan (The Covenant) is the king’s son, Jack Benjamin. His life is also about to change. I’m guessing sharing the spotlight and happily ever after are not the crux of this drama.
Susanna Thompson (Once & Again) is Queen Rose Benjamin. One to watch. Just a hunch.
Allison Miller (Lucy’s Piano) is the king’s daughter and soon the apple of David’s eye. Ah, the pawn. Or?
Wes Studi (Comanche Moon, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee) is the king’s cappo, General Linus Abner. Don’t care if his role is cardboard. One of the most underrated and underused actors in the U.S.
Eamonn Walker (Oz) is Reverend Ephram Samuels. Interesting.
Dylan Baker (Spider-Man 2″) is William Cross, the king’s brother-in-law.
Michael Green, Erwin Stoff (I Am Legend) and Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) are all exec producers, with Lawrence also directing the March 15 pilot.
Buzz buzz
Ian McShane does not suffer fools.
Will he play nice on the talk show circuit? Daily Show Tuesday and The View on Wednesday should pretty much run the gamut.
But what do I know anyway? After NOT having seen the pilot I predict…
I’m truly looking forward to this, despite overamped promotion (What’s a “movie event”?) that makes me worry about why they’re selling it so hard. But still, Ian McShane. Looks like all the regal bearing of his Deadwood kingpin Al Swearengen, probably without the expletives (not that there’s anything wrong with expletives).
Trailer
Other reviews
Metacritic’s sampling of reviews shows an average rating of 60 out of 100, ranking down from Entertainment Weekly’s 83 to Hollywood Reporter and Baltimore’s harsher judgments of 30 apiece.
Official website
Games, exclusives, “King’s Domain” are all empty, frustratingly. Court Historian has video of a press conference with the main cast and producers, which includes this from Walker: “It’s about god.” Good to know.
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
It’s a little late, but still coming: next series debut is The Line.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for the complete and updated list of mid-season premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
March 18 update: I thought Obama had better taste than this. He’ll be sharing a green room with Desperate Housewife Teri Hatcher and pro wrestler John Cena on Thursday’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Ayoye.
Hey chickens. Guess who’s on vacation? But I am so devoted to you that I, well, I’ve at least done a half-arsed job of this week’s talk-show guest report. But you can always click on the links. It’ll be reduced hours until April 6. I know. I’ll miss you too.
LATE NIGHT
Late Show with David Letterman (11:35 p.m. ET on CBS and E!)
Monday: Nicolas Cage (Knowing), Rachel Maddow
Tuesday: Julia Roberts (Duplicity), Bell X1
Wednesday: Craig Ferguson (Late Late Show), Modest Mouse
Thursday: Billy Crystal, Kara DioGuardi, Owen Wilson
Friday: David Spade (Rules of Engagement), Ricahrd Zoglin, David Sanborn and Sam Moore
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (12:35 a.m. ET on CBS and E!)
Monday: Regis Philbin (Live with Regis and Kelly), The Upper Crust
Tuesday: Julia Louis-Dreyfus (The New Adventures of Old Christine), Dropkick Murphys
Wednesday: Steven Wright, Rashida Jones (I Love You, Man)
Thursday: Will Ferrell (Eastbound and Down), Jean Michel-Cousteau
Friday: Jack Black, Conor Oberst
Tonight Show with Jay Leno (11:35 p.m. ET on NBC)
Monday: Julia Louis Dreyfus (The New Adventures of Old Christine), Jim Norton, Randy Rogers Band
Tuesday: Portia DeRossi (Better Off Ted), D.L. Hughley, Soundtrack of Our Lives
Wednesday: Reese Witherspoon (Monsters Vs. Aliens), Keith Olberman, Naturally 7
Thursday: Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewives), John Cena, the Mercedes Benz Outdoor Concert Series with Kelly Clarkson
Friday: Seth Rogen (Monsters Vs. Aliens), Guy Fieri, Chris Cornell
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (12:35 a.m. ET on NBC)
Monday: Gary Sinise (CSI NY), Colin Hanks, Public Enemy
Tuesday: Bill Paxton (Big Love); Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian, Ting Tings
Wednesday: Clive Owen (Duplicity), Paul Teutul Sr. (American Chopper), Vampire Weekend
Thursday: Jaime Pressly (My Name Is Earl), Steven Ward, Eric Church
Friday: Jason Segel (I Love You, Man)
Jimmy Kimmel Live (12:05 a.m. ET on ABC)
Monday: Don Rickles, Regis Philbin, Ben Sollee (R)
Tuesday: Chandra Wilson (Grey’s Anatomy), Streeter Seidell and Amir Blumenfeld (Prank Wars), Dancing with the Stars castoff, Young Dubliners
Wednesday: Any Samberg (I Love You Man), Ashley Scott (12 Rounds), MSTRKRFT
Thursday: Megan Mullally (In the Motherhood), Christopher MIntz-Plasse (Role Models), The Duke Spirit
Friday: Portia de Rossi (Better Off Ted), John Cena (12 Rounds)
Monday: Gen. Richarad B. Myers (Eyes on the Horizon)
Tuesday: Ian McShane (Kings)
Wednesday: NandanNilekani (Imagining India)
Thursday: tba
The Colbert Report (12:30 a.m. ET, CTV)
Monday: Neil Gaiman (The Graveyard Book)
Tuesday: David Grann (The Lost City of Z)
Wednesday: Juan Cole (Engaging the Muslim World)
Thursday: John McCardell (chooseresponsibility.org)
Monday: CBC Radio host Rich Terfry, Derek Foster
Tuesday:
Wednesday: Erin Karpluk (Being Erica)
Thursday: Margaret Atwood
Friday: tba
Charlie Rose (11:30 p.m. ET, PBS)
Mr. Rose announces his guests only on the day of broadcast, so please click on the show-name link above for the most recent guest announcement.
Real Time with Bill Maher (11 p.m. ET, Fridays only, on HBO Canada)
Friday: former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, MSNBC’s Keith Olberman, Senator Bernie Sanders, Kerry Washington
DAYTIME
Live with Regis and Kelly (9 a.m. ET, NBC and CTV)
Monday: tba
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
The View 11 a.m. ET, ABC and CTV)
Monday: Hot Topics, Jean Catzky (Why People Are Rich Why People Are Poor)
Tuesday: Gary Sinise (SCI NY), Drew Pinsky (Celebrity Rehab), Jay Mohr (Gary Unlimited)
Wednesday: Taye Diggs (Private Practice), Valentino (Valentino: the Last Emperor), Ian McShane (Kings)
Thursday: Jaime Pressly (I Love You Man), Troy Dunn (The Locator)
Friday: Regis Philbin (Live with Regis and Kelly), Dennis Haysbert (The Unit), John Rendall and Ace Bourke
The Bonnie Hunt Show (2 p.m. ET on Citytv and NBC)
Monday: tba
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
The Ellen DeGeneres Show (4 p.m. ET, CBC)
Monday: tba
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
Oprah 4 p.m. (NBC and CTV)
Monday: tba
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
The Tyra Show (10 a.m. ET on ABC)
Monday: tba
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
You kids are more likely to know Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid, the lovable ogre character in the Harry Potter movies.
But back in the olden days of the early ’90s, Coltrane was, and could only ever be, Fitz, the cranky, boozing, adulterous, bastardly, self-loathing, big-hearted and brilliant forensic psychologist working with the Manchester police. And you think House is tortured?
Cracker was the series and the full collection (all three seasons, plus two standalone movies) has been released on DVD with an extended interview with cast and crew.
The crimes stories are rocking. The supporting cast is spectacular: Christopher Eccleston (Heroes, Dr. Who) as the police boss, Geraldine Somerville as “Panhandle” Penhaligan and sometime apple of Fitz’s jaded eye, Barbara Flynn as the ferociously wounded and loving wife). But the reason to watch this is Coltrane’s rivetting character study of Dr. Edward Fitzgerald.
He’ll break your heart and make you laugh and all over again.
Pretend the U.S. version, starring the late Robert Pastorelli, did not happen. This Cracker is the real article.
Here are a couple more TV on DVD releases.
South Park: The Complete 12th Season
Get Smart: Season 2
Family Ties: The Fifth Season
Berserk: Complete Series (remastered)
The Baron: The Complete Series
Caroline in the City: The Second Season
The Best Years: The Complete First Season
The Starter Wife: Season 1
Forgotten Ellis Island
– Denise Duguay
Can the world get enough of Edmonton lad Nathan Fillion? According to one recent blog visitor, no sir. “Intriguing,” Rebecca wrote in response to last week’s TV on DVD, which included a reference to the new DVD Wonder Woman, which features the voice work of NF. “I am always up for some Nathan Fillion.”
And so, prepare your TV or DVR (VCR? Really?) Monday, March 9 for the new Nathan Fillion series.
Series name
Castle
Debuts
Monday, March 9 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC and, if you live not in Quebec where we don’t get it, on A Channel.
Regularly airs
Mondays at 10 p.m. ET (after the massively popular Dancing with the Stars.
Premise
Rick Castle is a crazy popular crime novelist living and horn-dogging around NYC when a body is found dead in a manner ripped right from one of his books. He’s brought in for questioning and while he’s not guilty, he does have hot pants for the investigator, Det. Kate Beckett and a little curiosity about why someone would be stealing his work. He pulls some strings — Ricky knows EVERYbody — and soon he’s Beckett’s new shadow.
Primary cast and crew
Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Desperate Housewives, online and DVD hit Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog) is Rick Castle, rogue but also devoted dad and son.
Stana Katic (Quantum of Solace) is Det. Kate Beckett, wounded loner (aren’t they all?) but, in terms of TV polive women, she is a real maverick. I watched the entire first episode and there was not one scene in which she was wearing a tank top under her suit jacket. She will never get anywhere in those long sleeves.
Susan Sullivan (Dharma and Greg) is Castle’s mother, Martha Rodgers, an older female version of her flirt of a son, but with more alcohol. In between young lads, he dreams of a Broadway comeback. She lives with her son, who adores her, and his daughter.
Molly Quinn (The Sacrifice) is Alexis, Castle’s very strait-laced daughter. Countdown to episode in which she is kidnapped begins…. now!
Buzz buzz
Is this Nathan Fillion’s big break?
But what do I know anyway? After having seen the pilot I predict…
Viewers tonight will fall in to three camps. 1) Dancing with the Stars fans who don’t change the channel and are intrigued by the seven promos per half hour that they’ve seen over the past month on ABC. 2) Fans of Firefly who have watched the aforementioned promos and assume that Fillion’s character here has much more snark and edge than he actually does. 3) People who tune in because they liked his gynecologist character on Desperate Housewives. Only Group 2 will be disappointed because while Castle is a smart, wise-cracking rake, he is also a decent single dad and devoted son. But that doesn’t mean this is a wimpy show. It’s just as stylish a police procedural as the promots suggest and there is even more chemistry between Castle and his new police partner, Det. Beckett. It’s not deep stuff and it’s not edgy, but it is amusing.
Other reviews
Reuters thinks this “Murder He Wrote” is laaaaaame but also mentions a scene not present in the screener sent to me so perhaps there have been tuneups? Here’s the reference: “The best scene of the pilot comes when Castle is playing cards with real-life novelists Stephen J. Cannell and James Patterson, who give their two cents about the current investigation and chide Castle for his technique. It’s a little piece of life-and-art merging and dovetails well with a show that doesn’t take itself too seriously. But “Moonlighting” it surely is not.”
San Jose Mercury News agrees Castle is fluff, but it “might be a plus at a time when audiences seem to be craving so-called ‘comfort food’ and escapist fare.”
Official website
Very basic.
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
Later this week I’ll look a the new Canadian series The Line.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for the complete and updated list of mid-season premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Well, Jimmy Fallon made it through his first week and the critics have weighed in. So now Fallon can calm down and get down to making the show his own. And now that that particular distraction is done with for now, the talk shows are abuzz with week with Dwayne Johnson, whose Rock Obama skit on SNL was one of the strongest moments on SNL in a while (although of course it went on too long); he’s stumping for Race to Witch Mountain, the March 13 opener which is firmly in the Rock-as-friend-to-kids-everywhere side of his movie-making ledger. On the other side of the spectrum, closer to grossout bromance in the spirit of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, is I Love You Man, which is getting the promo treatment this week with a slew of appearances by stars Jason Segel and Paul Rudd. I was lucky enough to see a sneak peek screening and if you like Forgetting, Rush and public discussion of “blowies”, you will laugh out loud. Many times. It opens in Montreal March 20. Here’s the trailer for I Love You Man.
LATE NIGHT
Late Show with David Letterman (11:35 p.m. ET on CBS and E!)
Monday: Russell Brand (My Booky Wook), Jungle Jack Hanna
Tuesday: Stupid Pet Tricks, Paul Rudd (I Love You, Man)
Wednesday: Tom Brokaw (Global Warming: The New Challenge with Tom Brokaw), Razorlight (Slipaway Fires)
Thursday: Paul Teutul (American Chopper), cast of Broadway’s West Side Story
Friday: Will Ferrell (You’re Welcome America: A Final Night with George W. Bush), Cursive (Mama, I’m Swollen)
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (12:35 a.m. ET on CBS and E!)
Monday: Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother and film I Love You, Man), comic Dave Attell
Tuesday: Rosario Dawson (Wonder Woman DVD), Gordon Ramsay (Hell’s Kitchen)
Wednesday: Egyptologist Kara Cooney, Tim Daly (Private Practice)
Thursday: Jim Parsons (Big Bang Theory), Sara Bareilles (Little Voice)
Friday: Christina Ricci (Saving Grace), comic Mike Birbiglia
Tonight Show with Jay Leno (11:35 p.m. ET on NBC)
Monday: Elisabeth Hasselbeck (The View), Demetri Martin (Important Things with Demetri Martin), Rocco de Luca & The Burden (Open Pages)
Tuesday: Whoopi Goldberg (The View), Elle Fanning (Phoebe in Wonderland), Keysha Cole (A Different Me)
Wednesday: Ellen DeGeneres (The Ellen Show), Christopher Mintz0-Plasse (Role Models), Raul Malo (Lucky One)
Thursday: Dwayne Johnson (Race to Witch Mountain), Heather Headley (This Is Who I Am)
Friday: American Idol Kara Dioguardi, Randy Travis (I Told You So: The Ultimate Hits of Randy Travis)
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (12:35 a.m. ET on NBC)
Monday: Amanda Peet (Important Things with Demetri Martin), Rose Byrne (Damages), Joshua Topolsky (engadget)
Tuesday: Emily Blunt, Michael Stipe, Pussycat Dolls (Doll Domination)
Wednesday: Russell Brand (My Booky Wook), Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht (Diggnation), The Virgins (The Virgins)
Thursday: Tracy Morgan (30 Rock), Malin Akerman (Watchmen), Glen Hansard (Swell Season)
Friday: Jarod Miller, Trace Adkins (X)
Jimmy Kimmel Live (12:05 a.m. ET on ABC)
Monday: Jonas Brothers (Jonas Brothers: the 3-D Concert Experience), defending NASCAR champ Jimmie Johnson, Darius Rucker (Learn to Live)
Tuesday: Heidi Klum (Project Runway), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Chris Cornell (Scream)
Wednesday: Jaime Pressly (I Love You, Man and It’s Not Necessarily Not the Truth: Dreaming Bigger than the Town You’re From), animal trainer Kirstin McMillan, The Pretenders (Break Up the Concrete)
Thursday: David Hasselhoff (Ready 2 Rumble Revolution), Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse), Pendulum (In Silico)
Friday: Dwayne Johnson (Race to Witch Mountain), Kristen Stewart (Adventureland), The-Dream (Love vs. Money)
Monday: Nathaniel Frank (Unfriendly Fire)
Tuesday: Craig Mullaney (The Unforgiving Minute)
Wednesday: Paul Rudd (I Love You, Man)
Thursday: Tom Zoellner (Unarium)
The Colbert Report (12:30 a.m. ET, CTV)
Monday: tba
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Monday: Natalie Brown (Sophie), Scott Kersterton
Tuesday: Jason Segel and Paul Rudd (I Love You, Man),
Wednesday: Kat Von D
Thursday: CBS News’ John Roberts, Biff Naked
Friday: tba
Charlie Rose (11:30 p.m. ET, PBS)
Mr. Rose announces his guests only on the day of broadcast, so please click on the show-name link above for the most recent guest announcement.
Real Time with Bill Maher (11 p.m. ET, Fridays only, on HBO Canada)
Friday: guests include Sarah Silverman
DAYTIME
Live with Regis and Kelly (9 a.m. ET, NBC and CTV)
Monday: Dwayne Johnson (Race to Witch Mountain)
Tuesday: Marcia Cross (Desperate Housewives), Whitney Port (The City)
Wednesday: David Boreanaz (Bones), High School Musical’s Corbin Bleu
Thursday: Paul Rudd (I Love You, Man), Pussycat Dolls (Doll Domination)
Friday: Larry the Cable Guy (The Comedy Central Roast of Larry the Cable Guy), Kelly Clarkson (All I Ever Wanted)
The View 11 a.m. ET, ABC and CTV)
Monday: Miley Cyrus (Miles to Go), Jimmy Kimmel (Jimmy Kimmel Live)
Tuesday: Jay Leno (Tonight Show with Jay Leno), Lady Gaga, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman (Dancing with the Stars)
Wednesday: Patrick Dempsey (Grey’s Anatomy), Bob Iger (Disney co.)
Thursday: James Denton, Kyle Maclachlan and Doug Savant (Desperate Housewives), Maurice Benard (General Hospital), Keysha Cole (A Different Me)
Friday: Sally Field and Calista Flockhart, Matthew Rhys (Brothers and Sisters), Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt (The Hills), Sherri Shepherd behind the scenes on Dancing with the Stars
The Bonnie Hunt Show (2 p.m. ET on Citytv and NBC)
Monday: Shemar Moore (Criminal Minds), Jason Mesnick and Molly Malaney (The Bachelor)
Tuesday: Sherri Shepherd (The View)
Wednesday: Garry Marshall (Race to Witch Mountain), Nathan Fillion (Castle), Rocco Deluca and the Burden (Open Pages)
Thursday: Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen), T.I. (Road to Redemption), latest exes of Amazing Race
Friday: Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig (Race to Witch Mountain)
The Ellen DeGeneres Show (4 p.m. ET, CBC)
Monday: Paris Hilton
Tuesday: Sean Combs, Carla Gugino (Watchmen)
Wednesday: Carole Burnett (Law & Order: SVU), Taylor Hicks (The Distance)
Thursday: Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives, film Phoebe in Wonderland), Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas (Dancing with the Stars), Rascal Flatts (Greatest Hits)
Friday: Dwayne Johnson (Race to Witch Mountain), Elle Fanning (Phoebe in Wonderland)
Oprah (4 p.m. ET on NBC and CTV)
Monday: Ruby, Little People Just Married: the New Stars of Reality TV
Tuesday: Medical Mistakes: Dr. Oz Talks to Actor Dennis Quaid
Wednesday: Celebrity Chefs Move in with Viewer Families
Thursday: tba
Friday: Live tba
The Tyra Show (10 a.m. ET on ABC)
Monday: One More Date With My Ex
Tuesday: Straight Girl, Gay Crush
Wednesday: Dr. Drew on Sex with Mom and Dad
Thursday: Deadly Teen Dating
Friday: Toddlers and Tiaras
One night is not enough to judge a new talk show, so let’s meet back here on the weekend to see how we really feel after the first full week of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. But after just having watched the debut episode at 12:35 a.m. last night (March 2), I know this much:
1. Great opening scene of JF on the streets of NYC, all streaky and haloed, which is exactly how a Lasik surgery patient sees the world. JF, who recently underwent the operation to save himself from having to wear specs to read the prompter/cards. He was kind enough to post the video on his website. Only the sturdy should attempt viewing.
2. Good opening-night bit, teasing about the real test for JF coming in Week 2, in which former host Conan O’Brien, crankily dragging his feet on cleaning out what is now JF’s dressing room, asks who is on the guest list this coming week, leading JF to gush about Robert De Niro and Justin Timberlake et al.
CO: “And next week?”
JF: “Ummm … So it’s going to be like that?”
CO: “Yeah.”
3. The jury is out, at least on my couch, about the opening monologue. Obama and economy jokes were so last week, but were revived slightly by Slow Jamming the News with Roots man Tariq Trotter doing backup while JF lounge-lizards the likes of Nancy Pelosi hammering Republican governors for opposing U.S. President Barack Obama’s stimulus package. It had a bit of a Will Ferrell flavour to it. But will it get old?
4. I laughed a couple of times (Justin Timberlake doing John Mayer, then doing Michael McDonald doing a Bud Light ad) and tapped a toe more than once (let’s here it for The Roots and debut musical guest Van Morrison).
5. Kudos to JF for facing full-on the fear of the unresponsive guest: While Robert De Niro is a nimbly comic actor, as witnessed by his blink and you’d miss it kibbitzing with Timberlake, De Niro is a notoriously bad interview. JF, seizing this opportunity, launched into a series of questions that required only one-word answers. It failed and succeeded, breaking even but doing what JF appears to be aiming for: the host who doesn’t hide his nervousness, doesn’t hide behind a snide persona (hello David Letterman) and doesn’t stoop to trashy supposed humour (oh Jay Leno). Now of course, playing a regular guy who, aw shucks, is lucky enough to have a show and the incredibly nimble Roots as his regular band is, of course, a persona. But it’s one with appeal.
What do you think? Are you like John Doyle of the Globe and Mail who thinks the talk-show scene is an overheated pile of pitiful ratings? Or do you, like me, dabble? I sample a bit of Letterman, a lot of the Daily Show, some of Ferguson if I can stay awake and a touch of Leno ONLY if the guest is good.
In case you need reminding, here’s a link to who’s where on the talk-show couches this week.
– Denise Duguay
It had me at the cast list: Marg Helgenberger (CSI), Alfred Molina (Frida, Spider-Man 2), Virginia Madsen (Smith, American Dreams), Nathan Fillion (Firefly, upcoming Castle), David McCallum (NCIS) and even the bouncy, bouncy Keri Russell (Felicity). But apparently, the new animated Wonder Woman origin story — new, straight-to-DVD and on shelves as of today — is as good as its voice choices. Or so says Wired and who am I to question the wisdom of the geek magazine’s critics squad. Although reviewer Ken Denmead does advise that parents pre-screen this for viewers younger than, well the U.S. rating is PG-13. It’s a cartoon, but it’s not for kids because of scenes of rape and murder. Yet apparently? Tons of laughs as well.
Here are some other new titles of TV on DVD:
7th Heaven: the Eighth Season
ER: the Complete 10th Season
Nash Bridges: The Second Season
Rick and Steve: The Complete Second Season
The Hills: The Complete Fourth Season
The Return of Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Hotel Babylon: Season 3
My Two Dads: The Complete First Season
Kennedy: The Complete Series
Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares
