Two Tivos To Paradise 02.05.10: Super Bowl Sized Edition

Posted by Al Norton on 02.05.2010

The 40 Best Shows of the last 10 years, a preview of Smallville: Absolute Justice, big names getting mentioned for pilot season, Lost thoughts, a guide to Super Bowl Sunday TV, raves for Life Unexpected, tons of news & notes and more, all in the latest editon of Al Norton's Two Tivos To Paradise

Hello Friends. Truly shocking news from this past weekend; Mrs. TiVo and I went to the movies. I know, I know, it's a lot to take in. After all, I saw all of two movies in the theater in 2009 (the last Harry Potter and The Hangover, on back-to-back weekends no less), which was double the Mrs. total. The in-laws came up on Saturday for a family dinner at Bugaboo Creek – yes, the twins were fascinated by the talking buffalo - and when they decided to stay over, we ran out to an 11 am show of Avatar on Sunday morning.

I have seen plenty of movies better than Avatar in my life but as an overall entertainment experience it may be tough to beat. James Cameron deserves all the credit – and dollars – he gets for taking that project from the idea stage all the way through to the finished project.

Quick update on interviews; my Greg Grunberg (Heroes) chat is running this Monday, and next Monday you can read my one-on-one with Mark Derwin (The Secret Life of the American Teenager). Oh, and don't my miss appearance in today's Fact or Fiction on the main Movies/TV page.

The Good Wife on CBS is really starting to get some momentum – that's what a bunch of big award nominations, including a Golden Globe win for Julianna Margulies, will do – and here is a catch up for those of you who might want to give it a try but are worried about what you missed so far…



Regular readers know what a huge fan of Glee I am, which would make my thorough enjoyment of this parody from The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon perfectly logical…



Having watched my first episode of Days of Our Lives as a five year old some 33 years ago, yesterdays news of Frances Reid's passing felt much like losing a third grandmother. RIP, Alice Horton.

And love, oh love, I'll be that fool for news.

I Can't Remember When You Weren't There, When I Didn't Care For Anyone But You
We may already be a full month into 2010 but that doesn't make it too late to give you a list of my picks for the best shows of the last ten years. I am not going to write individual blurbs for each one nor will I rank all forty; they are presented below alphabetically with an asterisk next to series that are in the top ten.

30 Days*
30 Rock
Angel
Battlestar Galactica*
Better Off Ted
Big Love
Boston Legal
Breaking Bad
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The Closer
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dexter
Entourage
Extras
Everwood
Everybody Loves Raymond
Family Guy
Friday Night Lights*
House
How I Met Your Mother
Life
Lost*
Mad Men*
The Middleman
My Name Is Earl
The Office
Pushing Daisies
Real Time with Bill Maher
Rescue Me*
The Riches
Scrubs
Six Feet Under*
The Shield
The Simpsons
The Soup*
Sons of Anarchy
The Sopranos*
Torchwood
Veronica Mars
The West Wing*

For TTTP newbies, my Achilles heel is that I have never seen The Wire. It's on my "To Do" list but that keeps getting longer. For me to include it above without watching would be dishonest. On the other hand, while I did not watch The Shield's entire run and was not a huge fan, I saw enough to recognize the overall quality of the show and felt it deserved to be included above.

I hear people frequently lament the lack of quality programming on television and wonder why there aren't good shows like the ones they grew up watching. News flash, people – the 40 shows on the list above are some of the best in TV history and offer an almost unparalleled level of dramatic excellence.

Bonus points for the first person who uses the comments section to tell me the actor who has done multiple episodes on the most shows listed above.

We Think We've Climbed So High Up All The Backs We've Condemned
This was a big week for Lost fans as not only did the Emmy winning series final season debut with strong ratings but producers/creators Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof told Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday night that the final episode would air on Sunday, May 23rd. For the first time since season two, ratings for the season premiere were up from the previous season's, with 12.1 million viewers tuning in to the two hours on Tuesday night, with a demo number second only to American Idol for the night. Even the clip show at 8:00 pm that preceded the premiere did well, coming in at just under 10 million with a quality demo of its own.

As for the two hours themselves, I was sucked back in from the opening seconds. I'd put some sort of disclaimer here about spoilers but anyone reading about Lost would have surely watched the premiere at some point over the last three days. I will admit to shedding a tear during Sawyer and Juliet's goodbye, and found a remarkable poignancy to alternate universe Jack and John's meeting in the airline office. I am sure there is a more scientific name for what the bomb did by creating a timeline where the plane didn't crash but AU, or alternate universe, is easier to type. Speaking of which, how strange was it to see flight 851 land?

It was obviously a thrill to see various characters who had departed the Lost universe over the years, and any screen time Rose and Bernard get is always a highlight (was I the only one saddened by the realization that since she's not on the island, she's dying of cancer?).

Do I have any more of an idea where the show's ultimate destination is after watching the first two hours of the final season? Not at all, but I am more excited than ever for the journey.

I'll Shine Up The Old Brown Shoes, Put On A Brand New Shirt
The Hollywood Reporter had a story about actors in demand for pilot season that quite a few other media outlets picked up on, including word that Matt Dillon has been offered the lead in NBC's remake of The Rockford Files. Other names mentioned as being hotly pursued for pilots include Maria Bello, Christina Applegate, Juliann Moore, Katee Sackhoff, Josh Lucas, and Michael Chiklis.

The producers of Ugly Betty told EW.com that they were doing their best to adjust the filming scheduled to allow their cast to pursue roles in new series. Eric Mabius, Michael Urie, and Becki Newton were expected to have busy agents fielding calls once the announcement that this would be Betty's final season was made.

I am quite sure there is no one who could match James Garner's charm as Jim Rockford but I like the thinking with Matt Dillon, going out of the box and getting someone with presence to try and take over a classic TV character. Actually, Josh Lucas' laid back approach could work with the role, too.

Speaking of rebooting TV series, I have changed my fantasy casting of the new Charlie's Angels a bit and now think they should go with Katee Sackhoff, Natalie Morales, and Charisma Carpenter. If Rosario Dawson would consider TV I would bump one of those three, but that strikes me as doubtful.

This May Be All I Need, In Darkness She Is All I See, Come And Rest Your Bones With Me
Super Bowl XLIV is this Sunday, with the Colts of Indianapolis going up against the Saints of New Orleans. What follows is a guide to all the football – and other programming – the day has to offer.

FOOTBALL
Sunday NFL Countdown 10 am, ESPN
Road to the Super Bowl, Noon, CBS
Phil Sims All-Iron Team: Super Bowl Edition, 1 pm, CBS
The Super Bowl Today, 2 pm, CBS
The Kick Off Show, 6 pm, CBS
Super Bowl XLIV Kick Off, 6:25 pm, CBS

ALTERNATIVE VIEWING OPTIONS
Supernanny, 6 am, 21 episodes, Style
Ghost Hunters, 9 am, 17 episodes, Syfy
Jersey Shore, 9 am, entire season, MTV
Law and Order, Noon, 12 episodes, TNT
Law and Order: SVU, Noon, 12 episodes, USA
Andy Griffith Show, 1 pm, 10 episodes, TVLand
CSI, 1 pm, 15 episodes, Spike
Ace of Cakes, 2 pm, 11 episodes, Food
Cake Boss, 2 pm, 10 episodes, TLC

The biggest non-football show is the series premiere of CBS Undercover Boss, scheduled for 10 pm but likely to start closer to 10:30 or even 11. I have seen the first episode and was shocked by how much I enjoyed it; the one line premise of "boss goes undercover at his own company to see how things really work" holds up quite well, and hour one finds the first CEO doing some actual good for his employees. It's funny and sweet and that's about as rare a combination as you will ever find in reality programming.

Another option for entertainment is Comedy.com's countdown of the 50 Funniest Super Bowl Commercials.

But You Were Up To Your Old Tricks In Chapters Four Five And Six
All you need to know about the Nielsen's for the past seven days…

THURSDAY
All about the demos on Thursday…Bones and Fringe topped the night (in that order), with both hitting season highs…Vampire Diaries tied The Deep End in the 18-49 demos, impressive considering that's not even VD's target audience…Burn Notice topped both The Jay Leno Show and a Private Practice rerun…Archer's third week was a series low…

FRIDAY
The Dollhouse series finale was in line with its average ratings this year…Kitchen Nightmares was down 42% from last season's premiere, although last year was on a Thursday with a much stronger lead-in. The good news is that it was Fox's best showing in the Friday at 9pm timeslot all season…Numb3rs was the most watched show of the evening with 8.7 million viewers while Ghost Whisperer topped the night in demos…Shark Tank improved on its Supernanny lead-in demos for the second week in a row…The total audience for the second episode of Caprica dropped from week one but the demos were up, tying or bettering those of Sanctuary and Stargate Universe, which occupied that timeslot in 2009…Spartacus: Blood and Sand jumped 17% in week two, which proves that any publicity about graphic sex and violence is indeed good publicity…

SUNDAY
12.3 million tuned in for The Pro Bowl on ESPN, a 40% increase from last year and the NFL All Star game's biggest audience since 2000…The Grammys pulled 25.8 million viewers, up 32% from last year and the best numbers for the awards show in six years…E!'s Grammy Red Carpet show was up 63% from last year…

MONDAY
The Bachelor was up for the fourth week in a row, topping out at 11.7 million total viewers…As usual, The Big Bang Theory was the top demo performer of the evening, while Two and a Half Men took the total audience crown with 16.5 million…House and 24 both dropped from last week…Heroes was up for the second week in a row…

TUESDAY
American Idol held steady with 24.9 million and a demo that doubled everything but Lost…Kitchen Nightmares improved over Friday's premiere by over 150% thanks to its Idol lead-in and easily outperformed Human Target, which normally occupies the timeslot…NCIS was up in the demos but came in under 20 million total viewers for the first time in months…1.7 million watched the premiere of The Michael Vick Project, strong numbers for BET…Season three of Shear Genius had the top rated season premiere in series history, topping last season by 17% in the demos and 23% overall

WEDNESDAY
Human Target was down 23% in its first night in the new timeslot…American Idol's Road to Hollywood special (mix of clips and new auditions) won the night with 20.8 million…Super Bowl's Best Commercials 2010 was the upset winner at 8:00 pm, with over 11 million viewers…Ugly Betty put up the worst scripted series demos of the evening…

All The Young Dudes, Carry The News
Industry News, Notes, and Hot Rumors…Rupert Murdock told the press that he has had conversations with Conan O'Brien about a late night talk show on the Fox network but nothing that constituted negotiations…Matthew Broderick will star in the NBC comedy pilot Beach Lane, playing a celebrity author who is put in charge of a small newspaper in the Hamptons. Paul Simms (NewsRadio) wrote the script…Sarah Chalke has signed for the lead in ABC's comedy pilot Freshmen, playing a first year Congresswoman…HBO picked up a fifth season of Big Love…NBC gave Parks & Recreation a third season this fall…MTV made a second season of Jersey Shore official, picking up 12 more episodes of the pop culture phenomenon. The new season, which will air late summer, will take place at a yet-to-be announced location as producers don't want to film in Jersey in the winter…Emmy winner Allison Janney has been added to the cast of the Matthew Perry's ABC comedy pilot Mr. Sunshine…ABC Family has given a 10 episode first season to Melissa and Joey, a comedy starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence with the complicated plot of Lawrence going to work as a nanny for Hart, whose character is a former wild child turned congresswoman who takes in her young niece and nephew when her sister goes to jail…TTTP favorite Dana Gould got a pilot order from ABC for an untitled series where he plays a high school guidance counselor and father of two…Spike has two reality series debuting later this year; Scrappers (10 episodes) finds a group of friends competing to find the best junk in Brooklyn and Half Pint Brawlers (6 episodes) chronicles the travels of a group of little people wrestlers. The network has also enlisted Thom Beers (The Deadliest Catch, Ice Road Truckers) to develop a weekly late night comedy talk show…From the brilliant casting choice file comes word that Chuck has signed Swoozie Kurtz and Fred Willard to play a husband-and-wife spy team…TBS ordered a pilot for Glory Daze, where four freshman pledge a fraternity in Wisconsin in the 80's…Neil Patrick Harris will host and executive produce the CBS game show pilot The Cube, an adaptation of a British series…To the shock of no one, TLC ordered a third season of the hit series Cake Boss…Web Soup's second season premieres March 3rd…OWN (Oprah's network) announced four reality shows in development; Kid-Napped (kids try to take control of their workaholic parents lives), Sentenced (profiling inmates at a maximum security women's prison as they attempt rehabilitation), <>Search (expert helps people find missing loved ones), and Miracle Detectives (a believer and a skeptic team up to investigate the unexplainable)…Oscar nominee Virginia Madsen will star in Scoundrels on ABC this summer. The series, which you read about here over the last few months, follows a woman trying to get her family to give up their lives of crime after her husband goes to jail, will have an 8 episode first season…The CW ordered pilots for HMS (a drama following students at Harvard Medical School), Hellcats (set in the world of college cheerleading), and Betwixt (good vs. evil). The first two are executive produced by Hayden Panettiere and Tom Welling, respectively, and the latter is adapted from the book of the same name…ABC's Happy Town will get a Wednesdays at 10 pm timeslot starting April 28th…Rob Riggle (Gary Unmarried, The Daily Show) will star as a larger-than-life football coach in Team Spitz, an ensemble comedy pilot for CBS…Cynthia Watros (Lost) will guest on multiple episodes of House as Wilson's first ex-wife/current girlfriend...When I first heard about Uncle Nigel, the TBS hour long pilot about an experienced cop who gets paired with his less than compatent nephew, my interest was mild at best even though it was written by Monk creator Andy Breckman. Consider me 180'd after learning that Two Tivos favorite Gary Cole has been cast in the lead role...

Turns Out Not Where But Who You're With That Really Matters
The top thing I watched since the last column went to press AKA The Best Of What's Around…The worst part about having a strong pilot is that the series has set the bar so high that the weeks that follow almost certainly seem like a letdown, although Life Unexpected has done a fantastic job of living up to expectations. This past week gave us our first look at Nate and Cate's extended family, which made for great comic relief as well as some insight into why these two are the way they are.

I am really enjoying Kristoffer Polaha's performance so far as his charm is offset rather realistically by his lack of goals; you can see why women would love a first date with him but not so much a 3rd. Nate has grown a bit over the first three episodes but not so much to recognize that he shouldn't take rent money for the bar from his daughter, which again helps the show from falling into the "only on TV" world. \\

I am really holding out hope that the positive reviews of the show lead to a solid base audience because there really needs to be a place on TV for shows like Life Unexpected.

People Say I'm Crazy Doing What I'm Doing. Well, They Give Me All Kinds Of Warnings To Save Me From Ruin
What's flashed before my eyes the last seven days… Jon Hamm is proving himself to be the new Tom Hanks when it comes to hosting SNL. Here is one of the funnier pieces from last week…



Not many people could do their entire opening monologue about the death of JD Salinger and still be funny but Craig Ferguson pulled it off last Thursday in an episode that featured a great interview with Rosie O'Donnell and a fine performance by Wilco…A great episode of Shark Tank this week, highlighted by the bizarre Legal Grind couple…Fans of Bruce Springsteen like myself with thrilled with the two part Spectacle: Elvis Costello with…two part finale, which may have been the most relaxed I have ever seen Bruce when discussing his career. I may have chosen different material for him to sing but with a catalog that big to choose from it's tough to please everyone…Medium had a high gruesome factor this week, with multiple stabbings and a severed hand…I think I liked the second episode of Caprica more than the pilot, as the alternating shots of Zoe and the Cylon model were used to great effect. Also, and you will notice a recurring theme here, Esai Morales is the man. Hey, forgot to mention how great it was to see Scott Porter join the cast this week…Brothers & Sisters is becoming a show that I watch but complain the whole time, asking questions like "what happened to Justin and Rebecca's wedding plans? Why is no one talking about the baby? How did Kitty have a successful bone marrow transplant in 15 minutes? Why have they made Kevin such an unsympathetic character?" In some positive B&S news, it's been great to see Jay Karnes (The Shield, Burn Notice) play a nice, regular guy…I can't believe that one of the Last Restaurant Standing pairs still on their feet includes someone who CAN NOT COOK. I know that so far they are still around because they currently run a successful dining and drinking establishment but my guess is they are next to go, perhaps even by the time you are reading this…The three White Collars that have aired in 2010 are much closer in quality level to the series premiere as opposed to those that followed, which is a very, very good thing…Burn Notice has had a strong start to the new year, with a just-about-perfect blend of action, humor, and character development…A very strong bounce back week for How I Met Your Mother. Hell, even Nick Swisher was funny…Another excellent episode of Damages – this is the best opening two hours of a season so far – with some great work by Glenn Close and Michael Nouri. I know some think the Madoff-knockoff storyline has been played out but Tom's meltdown on Monday night was the first time I can recall seeing a regular on any series deal with the aftermath of such an event. There are lots of people out there who were not only totally cleaned out by Madoff but also had sent all their friends and family his way and it will be interesting to watch how that level of guilt plays out over the season, especially since we know how it ends (sort of)…As much of a PSYCH fan as I am I still have to admit that Shawn's relationship with Abigail goes down in the "epic fail" category. We never saw any growth at all from Shawn, no conflict on whether or not to tell her that he's not really a psychic, we barely even saw them together outside of crime scenes. That's why the scene where she tells him she's leaving was so flat and his protestations so false, because the audience had no reason to think Shawn really enjoyed dating her. A major missed opportunity by the writers to move the character forward...

TV Pick Of The Week



I may have stopped watching Smallville after season three but that doesn't mean I am immune to fanboy buzz, and I'd say that tonight's Absolute Justice two hour event is the climax to months of build up. I am not particularly familiar with Justice Society lore but I do know that Hawkman, Dr Fate, and Star Girl will make appearances and that the above trailer looks pretty cool.

Even better news for Smallville fans is the thinking that The CW sending the Tom Welling produced Hellcats to pilot could be a signal that the series could see a 10th season, the reasoning being that Welling could be convinced to play Clark for another year in exchange for the network giving his new baby a shot.

Don't miss Smallville: Absolute Justice, tonight at 8 pm on The CW.

Hope You Need My Love, Babe, Just Like I Need You
Here is some other noteworthy programming of the next seven days

*Those of you thinking that Sunday's Super Bowl means no more football until the fall should check out TruTV's new series NFL Full Contact, a documentary style show that gave the cameras unprecedented access to all aspects of the league, from draft day to the championship. This six week series is pretty cool and football fans will not want to miss it.

*The season finale of Heroes airs Monday at 9 pm. I am tempted to call it a series finale but all reports seem to have NBC leaning towards bringing it back next fall.

*The new season of Celebrity Fit Club premieres on VH-1 Monday at 9 pm with a cast that includes Bobby Brown, Nicole Eggert, Sebastian Back, Kevin Federline, and Project Runway winner Jay McCarroll.

*Ellen makes her American Idol debut on Tuesday at 8 pm when the show hits the Hollywood rounds.

*Fox's dreary and ludicrous looking (not a good combination) Past Life premieres Tuesday at 9 pm in the coveted post-Idol time slot. History will no doubt look back at this as the series ratings high.

*The cover story of the current issue of National Geographic Magazine - Polygamy In America - is generating a lot of buzz, and Wednesday at 9 pm NGC airs Inside Polygamy: Life in Bountiful, a companion special that focuses on a polygamist community in British Columbia.

*Survivor: Heroes Vs. Villains has a two hour season premiere Thursday at 8 pm.

*The can-do-no-wrong John Larroquette guests on Parks & Recreation (Thursday, 8:30 pm, NBC).

Two Tivos To Paradise
30 Rock, The Academy, Accidentally on Purpose, American Idol, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Antiques Roadshow, Better Off Ted, Big Love, Bones, Bored To Death, Breaking Bad, Brothers & Sisters, Burn Notice, Celebrity Apprentice, Cake Boss, Chef Academy, Chopped, The Chris Isaak Hour, Chuck, The Closer, Community, Cougar Town, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Daddy's Girls, Damages, The Deadliest Catch, Demons, Desperate Housewives, Destination Truth, The Dish, Entourage, Eureka, Flipping Out, Food Network Challenge, Gary Unmarried, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters Academy, Ghost Hunters International, Ghost Lab, Glee, Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, The Hills, House, How I Met Your Mother, Hung, Iron Chef America, Launch My Line, Law And Order, Law And Order: Criminal Intent, Law And Order: Special Victims Unit, Life Unexpected, Lost, Mad Men, Make Me A Supermodel, Man v. Food, Medium, Men of a Certain Age, The Middle, Models of the Runway, Modern Family, The New Adventures Of Old Christine, Next Food Network Star, Next Iron Chef, The Office, One Tree Hill, Paranormal State, Party Down, Private Practice, Project Runway, Psych, Real Time With Bill Maher, Rescue Me, Royal Pains, Rules Of Engagement, Run's House, Sanctuary, Saturday Night Live, Scrubs, Shark Tank, Shear Genius, So You Think You Can Dance?, Sons of Anarchy, The Soup, Spectacle: Elvis Costello with…, Sports Soup, Supernatural, Table For 12, Top Chef, Top Chef: Masters, Top Design, Torchwood, True Blood, Ugly Betty, V, The Vampire Diaries, The Wanda Sykes Show, Warehouse 13, Web Soup, Will Work for Food, Worst Cooks In America,

People Love You When They Know You're Leaving Soon
Here ends another edition of Two Tivos To Paradise. We'll be back next week with a full run down of all the latest TV news as well as a visit from some folks whose names appear in the NCIS credits every week. Enjoy the big game on Sunday – go Saints!!!

Feedback is encouraged at [e-mail] as well via the comments section below.

Sources for this week's column include Daily Variety, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, and Hollywood Reporter (plus the web sites for those publications) as well as Aintit.cool.com.