Question:
When is the new John Goodman show going to air? I can hardly wait. He is such a good actor and I really want to see this new comedy with him as the star. — Linda D.
Matt:
Center of the Universe begins Sept. 29, and I wish I shared your enthusiasm. I've always liked Goodman, but I think he's got two dogs this season: the painfully ordinary Universe and the smarmy cartoon Father of the Pride.
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Question:
I feel compelled to write in and express my support for Joey. I'm so irritated with the people who are already dismissing it without giving it a chance. I mean, even Friends wasn't at its funniest right off the bat! And look at Seinfeld, which took quite a while to catch on, too. Personally, I thought the premiere episode of Joey was hilarious, and I look forward to it getting even funnier once the show really hits its stride. I just love Matt LeBlanc, and I was pleasantly surprised by Drea de Matteo's comic timing. I do actually have a question for you, Matt. I read in last week's column that they renewed The Dead Zone for a fourth season. Do you know if Sarah Wynter is coming back? — Catherine
Matt:
No question, Joey is a work in progress. It's easy to be cynical about a spin-off of such a popular show, and Joey's handicap is that, unlike on Friends, it won't be as easy — at least for a while — to throw "B" stories to supporting players. This one's really on his
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If The Jane Pauley Show flops in daytime — and having caught a handful of the squishy-soft early episodes, I wouldn't be surprised — the host shouldn't regard it as a failure. She's too much of a class act to make the sort of noise required to triumph in this competitive arena. And as an affable, self-deprecating "personality," she lacks the fire of Oprah or the fizz of Ellen. When The Jane Pauley Show isn't pure fluff, it asks Pauley to be a sob sister, sometimes too strenuously. Most of the segments feel like stretched-out versions of stories you'd find in the third hour of Today.
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Question:
I recently saw a press release promoting The Wire's new season and noticed that Amy Ryan (who played Beatrice Russell in Season 2) wasn't listed as a returning cast member. Why didn't TPTB bring Ryan back this season? I really thought her character was a great addition to the show last year. — Lateef
Matt:
Ryan was a wonderful asset to the show last season, but her character's sphere of influence was the Baltimore docks. The show is telling a very different story this season, and unless they transferred her to the wire unit full-time, her presence would have to be shoehorned in unrealistically. And if The Wire has anything going for it, it's realism. From what I've seen so far, they're introducing some fascinating new characters (especially in the political arena) that should take up the slack, not that there is any on this show.
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How do you follow a winning season? I wish CBS knew. The network proved it still had the goods a year ago with a dynamic fall lineup. Beating the odds, four of six new shows succeeded. (By comparison, ABC and NBC salvaged one each.)
Joan of Arcadia, Two and a Half Men and Cold Case exceeded expectations creatively, while JAG spin-off NCIS held its ground.
But instead of building on strength, CBS is taking the disappointing road of playing it way too safe this season. Even the one surefire hit, CSI: NY, covers awfully familiar terrain, following years in which CBS enriched the procedural format with Without a Trace and Cold Case.
The rest of CBS's new shows are much less promising.
Take the sitcoms. (Please.) You'd think a fresh, funny breakout hit like Two and a Half Men, poised to succeed Everybody Loves Raymond as a Monday anchor, would inspire CBS to abandon the formula of medio
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Question:
Matt, it is time to ask you what your thoughts are about spoilers. I personally try to avoid them as much as I can. I just cannot believe spoilers can happen for game shows, of all places. I also do not understand the people who either thrive on ruining the fun for others to find out in due time or thrive on knowing ahead of time what will happen. Do you have any thoughts about these kind of people? I will also let you know that I have enjoyed watching Ken Jennings compete on Jeopardy! He is a nice guy finishing first. — Susan M.
Matt:
As a rule, I try my best to avoid printing spoilers either in this column (even when people ask about rumors or upcoming twists) or in my reviews. There are plenty of places for people to go to find them, but generally speaking, not here. With Jeopardy! you have a situation where Ken Jennings' unprecedented winning streak has become a major industry news story, and when a trade publication broke the story about his alleged ultimate fate,
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Question:
Given the popularity and the quality of The Amazing Race right now, do you agree with CBS's decision to postpone the launch of the sixth season? I have mixed feelings on the subject as I'm hoping that by launching the sixth edition later in the fall, anticipation will build and the show will be a huge ratings success. However, I'm worried that the opposite might happen and that The Amazing Race might get lost in the shuffle so to speak, considering most shows will have run quite a few new episodes by then and television viewers might already have established their viewing preferences. — Chad C.
Matt:
As with most things concerning Race, I prefer to look on the positive side. CBS originally had planned to premiere the new season of Race on Saturday night shortly after the finish of the current season. The network officially is saying the indefinite delay is designed to give the show a bit of a rest and to build some anticipation. The more likely reason is that the show
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Question:
One of my girlfriends and I really enjoy South Park. Do you know when new episodes for the fall will be starting? I don't get cable and she records the shows for me. I also have a quick question about CSI. What did you think about last season? In my opinion, there were only a few standout episodes, and the rest was mediocre at best and atrociously awful at worst. If they don't show improvement this season, I am not sure how it will bode for their creative future. What are your thoughts? — Diane
Matt:
First, South Park. I believe episodes will start Oct. 27, and will be paired with a new animated comedy that, from the clip I've seen, could be one of the funniest shows of the year: Drawn Together, a reality spoof in which archetypal cartoon characters — a Disney princess, a Betty Boop vamp, action figures and a SpongeBob-esque creature — live together in a Real World-style setting. As for CSI: The show may have become a bit routine, but hardly atrocious. (Still, Without a
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Question:
I was wondering if you have seen the new show on BBC America, The Kumars at No. 42, and what your thoughts were. It's definitely the funniest show I've seen since The Office! And while we're talking about British comedies, can you explain why Brit comedies are so much funnier and wittier, and can master the art of subtle sarcasm and assume a certain level of intelligence of its audience, unlike American TV comedies, which think we are all morons? — Marcy
Matt:
Well, look what happens when an American comedy tries to go the subtle, witty or at least stylistically innovative route, like Fox's Arrested Development and NBC's Scrubs. They struggle to attract an audience as sizable as the lemmings who line up to watch the old-school yukfests on ABC and CBS. The everyday U.S. sitcom has certainly been dumbed down, but there are gems to be found, and consider how many lousy British comedies don't get exported. Fox tried a year ago to adapt The Kumars, but the result (The
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Question:
Is LAX filmed in a real airport? With all the concern with Homeland Security, is it prudent to have a film crew entering and exiting airplanes in an airport with all their equipment? It makes security secondary to making a TV series. — Dewey Q.
Matt:
If memory serves, the pilot episode of LAX used an actual airport as a location, but once it went to series, I believe a fake terminal was created on soundstages. Even more annoying than watching the show would be having one's travel plans disrupted by its production.
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