The Tasty Evil TV News 01.05.06
Posted by Avery Chan on 01.05.2006
Come get your first taste of evil in '06. This week, we welcome Scrubs back to television, can Futurama be far behind? Also, Ryan Seacrest loses all his Man-cards, Adam Brody wants to explore the vampire underworld and Stacy Keibler's legs are now on TWICE a week!
The television season this year has been a pretty strong one this year, ably following up a season that dropped Lost and Desperate Housewives on us. Prison Break has picked up the gauntlet those two shows laid down, Smallville is undergoing a renaissance and My Name is Earl and How I Met Your Mother are keeping sitcoms alive with extremely different styles. Lost and Desparate Housewives have gotten off to a slow start but it's how you finish the game that counts, not how you start it. With that in mind, here are a few of the things I'm looking forward to in the last half of the season.
Things to Watch for in ‘06:
The new season of 24
Check out a preview video of the new season here
The home stretch of Alias
It's been a slow start but with little time left until the finale, plot twists, double-crosses and more Derevko sisters will be coming at you full clip. Pay attention kids.
The last half of Prison Break.
Break out of that damn Jamba Juice already!
The fate of Arrested Development
Is this the last we'll see of the Bluth's or will Showtime save the most f**ked up family on television.
Stacy Keibler's Legs,
unleashed and uncovered in Dancing with the Stars, beginning TONIGHT!
*********
News I Deem Worthy to Report:
Adam Brody's Vampire series
Vampire's baby! Brody's teaming up with his Mr. and Mrs. Smith director, Doug Liman, to produce a show for NBC based on an original idea of his. It will follow a unit of L.A.P.D. that monitors the actions of vampires. Dick Wolf isn't too pleased that NBC is developing this show after nixing his Law & Order: Vampire Slayer pitch.
Will Futurama pull a "Family Guy"
Like its protagonist Fry, Futurama could find itself thawed back to life years after its time. On Wednesday, Variety reported that Matt Groening's follow up to The Simpsons could return to Fox with all new episodes, the same way Family Guy did. Apparently the show has found a whole new set of fans thanks, of course, to DVD and the reruns on Cartoon network. I don't watch the show personally but a few of my friends have picked up on it recently and it's my 12 year old cousin's second favorite show – next to Family Guy.
Seacrest signs with E! for $21 million
Ryan Seacrest strikes another blow for metrosexual males signing a three year, 21 million dollar pact to host and produce E!'s red carpet coverage for various award shows, edit and anchor E! News, and produce other projects for the network through his own company, the brilliantly named Ryan Seacrest Productions. As far as hosts go, Seacrest is alright and I'm sure he's worked hard for everything he has, but I can't believe this guy already has a star on the Walk of Fame. For his "radio work".
Scrubs Returns after long break
The critically acclaimed, ratings black hole returned to NBC's line up Tuesday night with the first two episodes of its fifth season. Preliminary Neilsen ratings put it at a 3.9 rating/9 share (whatever that means) with 7.8 million viewers (the second episode drew 7.9million and a 4.1/9), which is considered respectable but not spectacular. The true test for the show will be when House and NCIS return with new episodes. My Name is Earl and The Office, the shows that previously occupied the Tuesday, 9-10 slot has moved to NBC's Must See TV Thursday line-up which also includes Will and Grace and Four Kings. It's too bad Arrested Development is on Fox. Put Scrubs, AD, Earl and The Office together and you've got the sickest line-up in the history of television.
Quick Recaps:
Las Vegas
3-Sentence Recap:Diamonds are stolen on the set of a rap video. An amateur sex tape solves the crime. Surprise, someone is cheating at craps and gets some James Caan justice.
Tasty: "I like to dress up like a schoolgirl" – um…the character Vanessa Marcil plays.
Evil: Network shows desperately making the grab for street cred but ending up looking even whiter by using f-level rap stars. Lil' Flip is no Lil' Jon. He's not even a Lil' Wayne. It's not that rappers have no place on network TV, but that it's usually forced and awkward. Sometimes it just doesn't fit.
If this being a Nikki Cox schoolgirl pic and not a Vanessa Marcil one is a problem, you lose a Man-card.*
*(Keep reading to understand this joke)
Arrested Development
3-Sentence Recap: This is the "self-aware" episode that alludes to AD's real life cancellation trouble. The Bluth's need money so they decide to throw a fundraiser…for themselves. In typical fashion, the family bones themselves and all the guests run away.
Tasty: Mmmmm….hot ham water! Scrumptious.
Evil: Chicken in chicken sauce.
Scrubs (First Episode)
3-Sentence Recap: J.D. gets a whole crew of interns to boss around. Turk slips Carla birth control pills to keep her from getting pregnant. Elliot has trouble meeting friends at her new hospital and keeps hanging out at her old one.
Tasty: The 5 "Man" cards Dr. Cox gives to J.D., from whom he takes one away each time he "drops the ball man-wise".
Evil: So no one can take away my Man-Cards, I'd have to say Zach Braff in tighty-whiteys. Twice (well, the first time they were black).
Scrubs (Second Episode)
3-Sentence Recap: J.D. tries to build a friendly relationship with his interns but eventually realizes it's his duty to treat them like ass. Elliot gets fired from her new job and makes Carla promise not to tell anyone. Jordan gets conned by a heroin addict's sob story, making her accepted by the crew.
Tasty: J.D. learning to be a dick and the Elliot upskirt shot at the end of the show. Yeeaaah, give me a man-card bitch.
Evil: Nothing really stuck out for me.
Law & Order: SVU
3-Sentence Recap: When a woman is shot by her lover, her young son (Walt, from Lost), who was hiding in the closet at the time, seeks revenge and shoots her killer. The issue of whether an act of gun violence should be treated as a medical condition is argued at his trial, brining in the involvement of the powerful National Gun Association. With the help of Who's the Boss's Angela Bauer and some legal trickery, the boy is set free and the Gun people lose.
Tasty: What was looking to be a snoozer episode was saved by turning the unremarkable murder mystery into slightly more interesting social issues debate which itself was elevated by the nice twist at the end. Having the Casey team up with the defense lawyer and the judge to screw over the smarmy NGA lawyer was sweetness.
Evil: Another Benson showcase? We've had too many of these already this season.
