It's difficult to believe that the creators of Showtime's Episodes are not holding a grudge against network TV.
Their last series, the CBS sitcom The Class, was axed after one short season, and their follow-up comedy (for cable, natch) is nothing if not an indictment of how the worst broadcast shows get made, sometimes in spite of a great idea. Just take a gander at Episodes' fictional network honcho, a crass and careless tyrant who transforms an urbane British hit about the headmaster of an elite boys school into a broad comedy for American audiences starring Matt LeBlanc.
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Only a week into the new year, and already the volume of new TV is overwhelming. Case in point: this Sunday's logjam of new titles on network and cable, ranging from the truly sublime to the hopelessly ridiculous and instantly forgettable. Here's a rundown from best to worst.
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CSI: NY (Friday, 9/8c, CBS)
Ever since JAG signed off nearly six years ago, one of the most frequent topics in my mailbag is the hope that David James Elliott (last seen in ABC's short-lived Scoundrels last summer) will find his way back to CBS. For at least one week, his fans get their wish, as Elliott guests as the FBI agent ex-husband of Sela Ward's Jo. (Do we sense a triangle brewing?) In the case of the week, a guy dressed as a clown shoots a bakery owner, and the investigation reveals a skeleton in Det. Flack's past. (Presumably not wearing floppy shoes.)
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Thomas Haden Church and Claire Forlani have dropped out of Showtime's new comedy, Episodes.
Thomas Haden Church joins LeBlanc in Episodes
Church's exit is due to a scheduling conflict, but no reason has been ...
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