Two Tivos To Paradise 01.13.12: Justified, 24, Fringe, Lindsay Lohan, White Collar, Goodfellas, PSYCH, and More!
Posted by Al Norton on 01.13.2012
News and thoughts on the future of Fringe, the 24 movie, Lindsay Lohan's new TV project, new season premieres including Justified and American Idol, a preview of the Golden Globes and more!
Hello friends. This is one of those weeks where I have nothing for the cold open. No big highs or lows, no major events in the Norton household, no weather to complain about. I believe this is called life. Life isn't bliss, life is just this, it's living. Oh wait, I know; I can let you know that there will be no TTTP column on Friday February 10th as Mrs. Tivo and I will be spending four days at a resort in Punta Cana. This will be our first twins-free vacation ever and the first time we've left the state on a vacation since we went to Las Vegas in 2007.
NBC is trying to tap into the "we miss Punk'd and wish there was some way it could be combined with The Golden Girls" market…
Rob Lowe looks so cheesy-good here I might actually have to watch this…
As most of you know at this point there is an Al Norton's Two Tivos To Paradise Facebook page where you can get all the latest TV news as it happens plus get the chance to interact with your fellow TV lovers. It's also where we do all our giveaways, with our latest being season six of the Emmy winning animated comedy Futurama. Post "TTTParama" on our wall before the end of the day on Saturday and as long as you've got a US or Canadian mailing address and haven't won anything in the last six months, you'll be eligible to win. Also, while you're there, please click "like."
THIS JUST IN – we've already lined up our next giveaway, this one involving items you can wear, and it will begin next Monday on the FB page. Here's a hint as to what show (or shows) it may involve…
Well you think you news it all but you don't news a thing at all.
You Come Out At Night, That's When The Energy Comes And The Dark Side's Light And The Vampires Roam
The third full week of January is a huge one for television, with many high quality and/or hit series returning with season (and mid-season) premieres. Here's a rundown…
*Being Human (Monday, 9pm, Syfy)
While there is no doubt that the original Being Human is a higher quality series, there is something ever-so-slightly more fun about the Syfy version, perhaps because it is in many ways a guilty pleasure you don't actually have to feel that guilty about. While I wish the werewolf were a little less Ross Gellar and a bit more Chandler Bing, you feel for the three main characters despite their situations being less than relatable.
*Justified (Tuesday, 10pm, FX)
The Emmy award winning show is back for a third season with some major expectations to meet; this past batch of episodes was amazing, including one of the best villains TV has seen in some time in Margo Martindale's Mags Bennett, so the show has to open with a bang, which it does, just not in the way we may have been thinking of. Over the first two hours we get a general idea of the various story threads that will populate season three and a wonderful feeling of anticipation as we wonder how they will all cross over each other to come to a head. Not only is Jere Burns back in a big way as Wyn Duffy but Neal McDonough and Mykelti Williamson are also given very memorable introductions as folks who will be causing some issues for Raylan Givens in 2012.
*Southland (Tuesday, 10pm, TNT)
It's pretty much a TV miracle that Southland is beginning its 4th season this week considering how NBC cut it off at the knees weeks before season two was set to premiere. A true ensemble drama with a stellar cast, the show is gritty and gives the most realistic look at actual police work that TV has to offer right now. The next time you are looking to Netflix (or the like) to find a high quality series to give a try, Southland should be it; not only is it excellent but the first three seasons only total 23 episodes so you could catch up in no time.
*White Collar (Tuesday, 10pm, USA)
Following the series best cliff-hanger ending ever, White Collar returns with a very strong episode that is much more tense than usual, although there is still some of the show's trademark humor mixed in, and the last scene certainly tells you what the on-going story for the rest of the season will be, which may impact the entire direction of the show. How's that for a teaser?!?!
*American Idol (Wednesday, 8pm, Fox)
Last season the show proved it can survive quiet well in the post-Simon era but the TV landscape is different now as Idol is but one of three high profile, major network singing competition shows, so it's not like they're the only game in town. The real issue for the show is not in the judges panel or if this is the last year of Ryan Seacrest, it's can they find a real winner, someone who will have some modicum of prolonged success in the music business. Find someone like Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood, or Daughtry – folks who have conquered the label of "American Idol finalist/winner" and become known for the product they produce – and it will go a long way towards revitalizing fans passion for the show.
*Royal Pains (Wednesday, 10pm, USA) Royal Pains has never been my favorite show but it's certainly entertaining enough to justify the season pass I have given it and the first few episodes of 2012 are better than usual, with the return of Tom Cavanaugh's golf pro Jack O'Malley for a new story arc being amongst the highlights. No Boris anywhere to be found in the first two episodes, which is curious. On a separate note, I think they may be finally taking the step of someone having a medical issue that Hank can't fix, which would be a nice and needed dramatic turn for the series.
*Archer (Thursday, 10pm, FX)
Ahh, my beloved Archer. I've described it before as the James Bond parody Hollywood dreamed of making but never did as written by the writers of The Office, and I think that does the brilliance of the show justice.
There's Too Much Confusion, It's All An Illusion, There's Too Much Confusion
The annual Television Critics Association winter presentations are going on, with networks taking advantage of an audience of opinion makers to try and build buzz for their shows. Here are some of the bigger tidbits coming out of the meetings this past week…
*The producers of Fringe said the upcoming season finale could work as a series finale if need be but J.J. Abrams added that he's, "crossing fingers" that the show "gets to continue, and if not on Fox maybe somewhere else."
*Keifer Sutherland confirmed that the 24 big screen movie would begin filming this spring, with a likely 2013 release.
* Fox is launching a late night animated block on Saturday nights with all original programming in January of 2013. Former Adult Swim head of development Nick Weidenfeld has been hired to run point on the newly created division that will handle alternative animated series, and Hend Baghdady (Warren the Ape) has been hired as its chief executive. The Saturday night programming - and perhaps everything created by this new division - will also be made available on-line and via apps, gaming devices, and streaming services.
*There will be no Glee spinoff in the fall of 2012 but all the characters who are set to graduate McKinley High this spring will return as full time cast members for season four. While the plot mechanism to make this happen was not revealed, all involved seemed to be quiet excited about it.
*Fox President Kevin Reilly said Allen Gregory was officially cancelled but that decisions on new seasons of House and Terra Nova had not been made. The network also made clear that the new format of So You Think You Can Dance (1 two hour episode each week) will have the results revealed at the end of that episode (as opposed to viewers not knowing who was sent home until the followed week).
*Alec Baldwin has agreed to a new deal so if NBC renews 30 Rock for a 7th season, he will return as a full time cast member. It had been previously thought that he would leave the show when his contract expired this spring.
*Mariska Hargitay announced that she would return to Law & Order: SVU if the show was renewed. Similar to the above story, many thought this would be her last season with the show. Speaking of SVU, NBC used the occasion to let everyone know that Harry Connick, Jr. would be guesting on at least four episodes as an ADA and love interest for Hargitay's Olivia Benson.
*Season two of NBC's hit series The Voice will feature guest mentors Kelly Clarkson, Lionel Ritchie, Ne-Yo, Jewel, Miranda Lambert, Kenneth Babyface Edwards, Robin Thicke, and Alanis Morissette.
*Bravo is giving Kathy Griffin a one hour weekly talk show starting this spring. Kathy – the show's working title – will feature Griffin discussing the pop culture issues of the day along with celebrity interviews and taped comedy bits. The network also revealed that George Clooney will be the guest on the season premiere of Inside The Actor's Studio at the end of the month and that the cast and creators of Glee would do an episode as well.
*The almost brand new and top of the line Studio 1 on the Universal Lot has sat empty since Conan O'Brien's run as host of The Tonight Show ended but later this year E! will begin taping Chelsea Lately there. The network also announced that the Joan Rivers' hosted Fashion Police would be doubling in size starting in March, going from 30 minutes to one hour each week.
*ABC Family will launch new episodes of The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Make It or Break It on Monday March 26th. They also are working on turning The Nine Lives of Chloe King, recently cancelled after one season, into a TV movie, with the possibility of doing more of them depending on ratings.
*Shonda Rhimes new political spin drama Scandal will premiere on April 4th in the post-Grey's Anatomy Thursdays at 10pm timeslot. Private Practice will shift to Tuesdays at 10pm beginning on April 24th after a three week break as the network sees how the show does out on its own, although it will still have a strong lead-in (the DWTS results show). New comedy Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23 will take over the Happy Endings Wednesdays at 9:30pm slot on April 11th, a week after Endings completes its second season…
Such A Cold Finger Beckons You To Enter His Web Of Sin, But Don't Go In The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards take place this Sunday at 8pm on NBC preceded by red carpet pre-shows on both NBC and E!. Here's a quick look at the TV nominees with picks for who should and will win. FYI, these picks are based solely on who has been nominated, not who should have been.
Best Supporting Actor (Comedy, Drama, Mini-Series, or Movie)
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones, Paul Giamatti, Too Big to Fail, Guy Pearce, Mildred Pierce, Tim Robbins, , Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
Should Win: Peter Dinklage
Will Win: Peter Dinklage
Best Supporting Actress (Comedy, Drama, Mini-Series, or Movie)
Jessica Lange , American Horror Story, Kelly McDonald, Boardwalk Empire, Maggie Smith, Downton Abby, Sofia Vergara, Modern Family , Evan Rachel Wood, Mildred Pierce
Should Win: Jessica Lange
Will Win: Jessica Lange
Best Actor, Comedy
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock, David Duchovny, Californication, Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory, Thomas Jane, Hung, Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
Should Win: Alec Baldwin
Will Win: David Duchovny
Best Actress, Comedy
Laura Dern, Enlightened, Zooey Deschanel, New Girl, Tina Fey, 30 Rock, Laura Linney, The Big C, Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Should Win: Amy Poehler
Will Win: Laura Dern
Best Actor, Drama
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire, Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Kelsey Grammer, Boss, Jeremy Irons, The Borgias
Damian Lewis, Homeland
Should Win: Bryan Cranston
Will Win: Kelsey Grammer
Best Actress, Drama
Mirelle Enos, The Killing, Claire Danes, Homeland, Julianna Marguiles, The Good Wife, Madeline Stowe, Revenge, Callie Thorne, Necessary Roughness
Should Win: Claire Danes
Will Win: Claire Danes
Best Series, Comedy Enlightened, Episodes, Glee, Modern Family, New Girl
Should Win: Modern Family
Will Win: Enlightened
Best Series, Drama American Horror Story, Boardwalk Empire, Boss, Game of Thrones, Homeland
Should Win: Homeland
Will Win: Game of Thrones
Enjoy the show and I'll run my stats next Friday!
You Broke My Heart ‘Cause I Couldn't Dance, You Didn't Even Want Me Around
The winter break is over; here is a list of the show's returning with new episodes this week…
Sunny Day, Sweepin' The Clouds Away, On My Way To Where The Air Is Sweet
The Sesame Street video of the week…
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 21 days…
THURSDAY
The first new Grey's Anatomy of 2012 was up 7% in total viewers and 10% in demos from the last episode of 2011…Private Practice was up 8% in the demos although it still came in second in total viewers to a rerun of The Mentalist…The Vampire Dairies matched its previous new episode numbers while The Secret Circle was down a hair in demos…TNT's first Thursday NBA doubleheader of 2011 was up in a big way from the first of 2010, with the game one's Heat – Hawks matchup showing a 75% gain and the Lakers-Trailblazers game up an astounding 178%...
FRIDAY
The series finale of Wizards of Waverly Place hit a series high…While it was no surprise that Blue Bloods won the night in totals and demos for regular programming, a surge by CSI: NY (+29% in the demos) made the margin of victory much smaller than usual…Overall it seemed like the 18-49 audience was up across the board, with A Gifted Man (+15%), Chuck (+25), Nikita (+20%), Supernatural (+14%) and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (+17% at 8pm, +23% at 9pm) showing big gains…Fox's coverage of The Cotton Bowl was the most watched telecast of the evening…The season two debut of Portlandia was up 39% in total viewers and 81% in the demos from its series premiere last year…
SATURDAY
I was surprised that the GOP debate on ABC was down from the previous two, although the 6.25 million total viewers made it the third most watched debate of the political season…NBC's coverage of Wild Card Saturday was down 16% for Game 1 and 7% for Game 2, although the latter was the third best Wild Card Saturday game since 1999 and easily won the night in totals and demos…
SUNDAY
Over 40 million viewers watched the end of the Steelers-Broncos game in the hour+ that spilled into primetime on Sunday night, easily the most watched program of the evening and giving a huge boost to the rest of the evening's programming, including a 23% demo jump for The Good Wife. It was the highest rated wild card game in 24 years and up more than 30+ from last season…Like everyone else, I can't help but look at the ratings for the series premiere of The Firm and call them soft; the show was dead last at 9pm in demos and tied Pan Am for last in the 10:00 hour…Once Upon a Time was back in a big way, up 15% in total viewers and 25% in demos…Shameless got off to a huge start, up 37% from last season's finale and up 61% from the season one premiere…Over one million people watched the debut of House of Lies and when the two replays are added in it drew better than the first night of recent hit Homeland. FYI – these Showtime numbers are only from subscribers and do not include anyone who watched via the free preview weekend…Ax Men opened a new season with a strong 2.9 million viewers on History, with the series premiere of Cajun Pawn Stars that followed it doing even better, with 3.6 million viewers…
MONDAY
Despite The Bachelor being down from last week's not so impressive premiere numbers, Castle was up 21% in totals and 15% in demos from its 2011 sign off…How bad are things for The Bachelor so far? It lost to the four hour CBS comedy block, which was all reruns, and for the second week in a row was tied in the demos at 9pm with Fear Factor, which hit a season low…
TUESDAY Work It lost 20% of its barely ok week one demos in its sophomore outing despite its Last Man Standing lead-in matching the previous week's numbers…NCIS topped 20 million total viewers for the second week in a row and won the night in demos, too…Parenthood and Body of Proof were both up a smidge in demos but finished WAY behind Unforgettable at 10pm. Unforgettable hit a season/series low in demos but still won the hour in total viewers as well as 18-49's…The 2.5 million who watched the season premiere of Lifetime's Dance Moms represented a series high, up 150% from the series premiere last year. It was also up 120% in the demos…The series premiere of A&E's Shipping Wars was watched by 3 million people…The Game's season five premiere was watched by 5.3 million viewers, down from season four but still incredibly impressive numbers for cable, and tvgasm worthy ratings for BET…
WEDNESDAY
The premiere of Are You There Chelsea finished third in total viewers and demos in the 8:30 – 9 slot…Modern Family was the nights top demo performer as well as the most watched scripted program of the evening…The People's Choice Awards won the night in total viewers despite being down in that measure from last season…The Middle won 8:00 in demos while Revenge did the same at 10pm…
All The Young Dudes, Carry The News
Industry News, Notes, and Hot Rumors…Jon Hamm confirmed that season five of Mad Men will premiere on Sunday March 25th…Frank Darabont's first post-Walking Dead TV project will be writing, directing, and executive producing the TNT pilot LA Noir, an adaptation of the book of the same name that looks at the battles between the LAPD and the mob in the 1940's…USA picked up a 16 episode seventh season of PSYCH…Paul Rudd will guest on multiple episodes of Parks and Recreation as Leslie Knope's political opponent. As previously reported, Katherine Hahn will also be around for a few outings as his campaign manager…Lindsay Lohan is in talks with Lifetime to star in a movie about Elizabeth Taylor; Elizabeth and Richard: A Love Story will follow the tumultuous relationship between Taylor and Sir Richard Burton, with a screenplay written by Christopher Monger, who wrote the Emmy/Golden Globe/SAG award winning HBO movie Temple Grandin…CBS has a big Hawaii 5-0 – NCIS: LA crossover planned for May sweeps, with Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J appearing on the former on a Monday night followed by Alex O'Laughlin and Scott Caan jumping to the latter on Wednesday. The story involves a deadly virus that might be being used as a chemical weapon…After having two former cast members pass way in 2010, VH-1 has no plans for new seasons of Celebrity Rehab or Sober House in 2012. The network will debut the new series Relationship Rehab later this year, with couples working to stay together…Weekday primetime viewership was up 18% in 2011 for the NFL Network, with Sunday viewership up 15%...Jim Rome is leaving ESPN for CBS Sports and Showtime, with a 5 day a week (6pm) half hour show (Rome) to launch on the CBS Sports Network in April and a sports/entertainment talk show in development at Showtime. He will also be used in CBS Sports coverage of everything from the NFL to the Final Four to NCAA football to the US Open…Dermot Mulroney will guest on multiple episodes of New Girl this spring as a love interest for Jess…Spike TV is in negotiations with Top Rank for a new weekly boxing series, with a 36 episode first season being discussed…TBS ordered a 10 episode first season of Men at Work, a comedy created by Breckin Meyer and starring Danny Masterson, James Lesure, and Adam Busch…TNT ordered a 10 episode first season of the reality competition series The Great Escape. Counting Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, and Bertram Van Muster among its executive producers, the show finds regular people put in larger-than-life situations straight from the movies and forced to find a way out…Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden, who will be appearing on the NBC comedy Bent later this spring, will star in Isabel, a comedy pilot for the network about a family with a daughter who seems to possess magical abilities…Fear not, fans of all things cute; Animal Planet will do an 8th annual Puppy Bowl (VIII) on February 5th at 3pm…Yahoo is getting into the original content game, getting the on-line rights to Electric City, a 90 minute animated series created by and starring Tom Hanks. They will likely show it broken up into anywhere from 3 to 10 episodes…Fox had a busy week, ordering pilots for Living Loaded (from book of same name by Dan Dunn, executive produced by It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Rob McElhenney), Ben Fox is my Manny (from Dana Fox, who wrote What Happens in Vegas and Couples Retreat), and Guilty (legal drama from Greg Berlanti & Marc Guggenheim)…Midnight on March 23rd is when SoapNet becomes Disney Jr., a new network aimed at the 2 – 7 year old crowd that Sprout does so well with right now. Currently the morning programming on Disney Channel is called Disney Jr. but that will spin out to the new network…Erin Richards, best known for her work on the original BBC version of Being Human, is joining the cast of Fox's Breaking In…AMC is working on a series adaptation of Goodfellas, with the movie's writer (Nicholas Pileggi) and producer (Irwin Winkler) on board as executive producers. The pilot script is being written by Jorge Zamacona, whose writing and/or producing resume includes Homicide: Life on the Street, Oz, Millennium, St Elsewhere, and Law & Order…ESPN's coverage of the upcoming MLB season will begin with the opening night of Marlins Park in Miami on April 4th when the Marlins take on the World Champion St Louis Cardinals…Kelly Clarkson will sing the National Anthem at Super Bowl, with Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert teaming up for America the Beautiful…Showtime will do another season of The Franchise but has not announced what MLB team they will follow…ESPN2 will television the New York Marathon live this November, this first time the race has been live on national television in 20 years…
Turns Out Not Where But Who You're With That Really Matters
(The Best of What's Around aka The Best Thing I've Watched In The Last Seven Days)…
Not that Charles Barkley didn't do a good job hosting Saturday Night Live the first two times around but last week's third stint as front man produced a quality 90 minutes of comedy, including at least one instant classic sketch…
This cracked me up, too, if just for the concept…
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 twenty one days…Strong first Grey's Anatomy of 2012 and a great example of how to really play with your audience's emotional expectations; while we expected some type of softer note to end the episode, seeing Derek and Meredith be reunited with their daughter in the final moments produced even more tears because it was unexpected…Watched a few David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel monologues this past week and while there were indeed some funny lines, it's clear that Craig Ferguson's brilliant work each night on The Late Late Show has ruined me for other talk shows. Jimmy Fallon is decent because he keeps it so short and then moves quickly to the desk pieces…My love-hate relationship with Private Practice is well documented on these pages and it was never in clearer focus than last Thursday, when much of the episode was really throw-away stuff until the scene at the end where Pete breaks down a bit over fear of losing his son while he and Violet separate. That's real life stuff, folks, and I think there could be a really interesting series in such a subject; the pilot is a couple with a kid (or kids) deciding to separate and we follow each of the parents as they try to make new lives for themselves while at the same time making sure they cause as little disruption in the lives of their children as possible. Seeing both sides of the relationship would be the interesting part as I think we've seen that show a couple of times from the Mom's point-of-view. Back to my original point, Tim Daly is a really talented actor who can bring it when given quality material to work with…Leave it to a foreigner to shine a light on parts of the US not normally seen on American TV; I really shouldn't have been surprised by how good the first episodes of Jamie's American Road Trip were considering how much I enjoyed and admired Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and while this new show doesn't have the same type of sweeping goals as the first one did, it's just as excellent in its own ways. Oliver's appetite for knowledge is always genuine, which allows him into situations others would not get access to. The series is running on BBC America and really deserves your eyes…On a similar note I was really impressed by The Big Waste on Food Network, which featured four of the networks best known chefs going head to head using food that had been thrown away. The emphasis was just as much on why so much good food goes unused as it was their cooking skills and it was fun to see the personalities so laid back and being themselves. Not sure how they could turn this into a series but maybe a recurring special, with each one taking place in a new city (The Big Waste: New York, The Big Waste: Boston), and also next time maybe have the folks eating the food be a mix of folks who really need it along with top chefs…The two hour pilot of The Firm was zzzzz…Oh, sorry, the pilot was so damn boring I fell asleep just thinking about it. What's the long term future on a show like this, that somehow Mitch McDeere finds himself caught up in a huge new conspiracy every season? Talk about living under a black cloud!...The opening scene on The Middle this week – with the Heck family in the car discussing death – was easily the sharpest and funniest 5 minutes in the series history. The entire episode should be their award submission tape…Speaking of brining the funny, Wednesdays Happy Endings had me laughing start to finish. I will never think of bumper pools or rotary phones the same way!...Huge props to One Tree Hill for starting their final season with a bang; that opening flash forward was amazing and anyone who hadn't watched in a while who was tuning in to check out the how everything was going to wrap up is almost a sure thing to keep coming back for more. Dan Scott was back in a big way and I had forgotten how entertaining a character Chris Keller is, to the point where I think he should get his own spinoff, or at least head over to Gossip Girl to annoy the hell out of Blair and Serena…
TV Pick Of The Week
I am not going out on a limb by suggesting the ratings for Saturday's Broncos – Patriots game (8pm, CBS) will be through the roof, with a good chance at setting some records. I mean, Tim Tebow is just about the most talked about name in sports the last 4 months and he's long since crossed over into the world of pop culture buzz as well. Meanwhile, on the other sideline, Tom Brady is no slouch when it comes to mainstream exposure, what with his endorsements and magazine covers, not to mention his supermodel wife. Don't forget the large anti-Patriot contingent out there among NFL fans who will be watching in the hopes that (evil?) genius Bill Belichck's band of brothers will be one-and-done in the playoffs for the third season in a row. And of course there are the millions and millions of football fans who would watch this game no matter who were playing.
Add it all up and you're looking at a game that is likely to be at least a small consideration in most people's Saturday night plans.
Don't miss the Broncos – Patriots game tomorrow night at 8pm on CBS.
Hope You Need My Love, Babe, Just Like I Need You
Other viewing options from the next seven days…
*The only thing lacking from the political coverage TV has had to offer as of late has been Real Time with Bill Maher (10pm, HBO), so it's a good thing tonight is the new season premiere. Even better news is that Herman Cain will be stopping by for a chat.
*Sure, an animated series based on a live action movie from over 10 years ago is always a good idea, or at least that's what Fox is hoping with the launching of Napoleon Dynamite this Sunday at 8:30pm.
*The season one finale of AMC's Hell on Wheels airs Sunday at 10pm. Fans are breathing easier knowing a second season has already been picked up.
*ABC's newest daytime talk show The Revolution premieres Monday at 2pm.
*NBC celebrates Betty White's 90th Birthday this Monday at 8pm with an all-star spectacular, followed by a sneak preview of Off their Rockers, the trailer for which you watched a few minutes ago.
*Fox's much hyped new series Alcatraz premieres on Monday with episodes at 8 and 9pm. The pilot I saw last summer was decent but didn't really leave me clamoring for more. It was well done, and the cast is pretty strong, but nothing stood out in any real way. They've made some edits to that first hour so perhaps they've tightened things up a bit so I will watch again along with hour number two before making a season pass decision.
*Heat Seekers (Monday, 8 & 8:30pm) is Food Network's newest reality show, where chefs you will recognize from the network's other programming travel to different cities to find the hottest foods available.
*The CW tries once again to find a reality series that can last more than one season, and this time they've taken into account that America's Next Top Model is their most successful series in the genre of all time by giving us Remodeled (Tuesday, 9pm)…
*Why doesn't TV have a competition series for tattoo artists?!?! Ink Master premieres Tuesday at 10pm on Spike, with none other than Dave Navarro as host.
Two Tivos To Paradise 24 Hour Restaurant Battle, 30 Rock, After the Catch, American Idol, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Antiques Roadshow, Archer, Auction Hunters, The Big C, Boardwalk Empire, Being Human, Bones, Bored To Death, Breaking Bad, Burn Notice, Celebrity Apprentice, Cake Boss, Chopped, Chuck, The Closer, Community, Cougar Town, Crave, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Deadliest Catch, Desperate Housewives, Destination Truth, Entourage, Eureka, Fact or Faked, Falling Skies, Fairly Legal, Family Guy, Flipping Out, Food Feuds, Food Network Challenge, Food Network Star, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters Academy, Ghost Hunters International, Ghost Lab, Glee, Gossip Girl, Great Food Truck Race, Grey's Anatomy, Happy Endings, Haunted Treasure, Hawaii 5-0, Hell on Wheels, Hollywood Treasure, House, How I Met Your Mother, How To Make It In America, Hung, If You Really Knew Me, Iron Chef America, Justified, The Killing, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Law And Order: Special Victims Unit, Louie, Mad Men, Man v. Food Nation, The Middle, Mike and Molly, Modern Family, Necessary Roughness, New Girl, Next Iron Chef, The Office, One Tree Hill, Outside the Lines, Parks & Recreation, Private Practice, Project Accessory, Project Runway, Psych, Raising Hope, Real Time With Bill Maher, Restaurant Impossible, Revenge, Ringer, Rocco's Dinner Party, Royal Pains, Rules Of Engagement, Sanctuary, Saturday Night Live, The Secret Circle, Shear Genius, So You Think You Can Dance?, Sons of Anarchy, The Soup, Suits, Suburgatory, Supernatural, Table For 12, Terra Nova, Top Chef, Top Chef Just Desserts, Top Chef: Masters, Top Design, Torchwood, Tosh.0, True Blood, Up All Night, The Vampire Diaries, The Voice, The Walking Dead, Warehouse 13, Web Soup, Wilfred, Worst Cooks In America,
People Love You When They Know You're Leaving Soon
Here ends another Two Tivos To Paradise.
Enjoy all the football plus a big week of returning series! We'll be back next Friday with all the latest TV headlines plus a review of the Golden Globe telecast.
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, TVline.com & Deadline.com.
