An extract from a true story taken from the Fictitious Journal of Adhir Kalyan:I walk down the aisle, raise my hand, and run my fingers along the products arranged meticulously on the shelves. One item, not in keeping with the host of products attempting to grab my attention, is slightly out of place, and as a result, grabs my attention. It is only when I slide it into its intended position that I notice the six numbers and two letters:BB: 05.23.07I cannot quite come to terms with what I have just seen. Perhaps I don't want to come to terms with what I have just seen, for maybe the trauma would be too much. I resist the inexorable realization like a wave that does not wish to crash on to the shore but knows resignedly that it will do just that, and reluctantly acknowledge that the best before date of May 23, 2007, has come. And gone. More than three months ago.But the resignation is replaced by anger. This box of cookies has been wasted... is unwanted... has expired.I really should ...
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Question: I was an evacuee from the wildfires in Southern California last week; I had to leave my house for five days, and I didn't get power back until the sixth day. That's right, six days without television! Luckily, my house is fine and so is my TiVo. The experience left me with two epiphanies: First, I was able to view most of the shows I missed online, which is an awesome thing I had never appreciated before. I always thought, why watch online when I can just watch my TV? Well, thanks to the major networks, I'm still in the loop. Second, there's nothing like a natural disaster to make you realize which TV shows are really important (and by important I mean entertaining!). Reaper and Bionic Woman? I loved the concepts, but the shows just haven't delivered. When I missed this week's episodes, I didn't care two straws. On the flip side, I found myself sad that I missed out on not just the obvious good shows like Heroes and Survivor, but also new shows like Pushing Daisies and even ...
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Question: As an avid reader, I am shocked that you haven't mentioned the hilarious new comedy Aliens in America. Have you noticed how well written and superbly acted this show is? And it has our favorite guy, Scott Patterson!
Answer: Haven't mentioned it? What rock have you been living under? I've been singing America's praises for months. I even touted it as one of my top five fall picks. And now I'm about to give you some exclusive scoop: There's an episode coming up called "The Muslim Card" in which a very annoying teenager falls in love with Raja and, to his horror, converts to Islam for him. The role will be played by Kala Savage, sister of Ben and Fred.
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Question: Which new shows do you think have lived up to their hype? Which shows have fizzled, and which are just hitting their stride? Chuck is the first must-see on my list. Life is a close second, reminding me a bit of Boomtown. Pushing Daisies is growing on me. Until Lost and Battlestar Galactica return, I have found few series worth my time. What shows do you look forward to, and which have you given up on?
Answer: Of the new shows, Chuck, Pushing Daisies and to a lesser degree the guilty pleasures of Dirty Sexy Money and Gossip Girl have held up best from my earliest assessments. I'm also glad that Samantha Who? appears to be an instant hit (thanks to the Dancing with the Stars lead-in). That's the best commercial comedy ABC has given us in quite a while. Also enjoying The Big Bang Theory and Aliens in America more often than not. Shows like Private Practice, Life and Moonlight have improved since their pilots, but not enough for me to get behind in any significant way. And I still
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Natalie Zea and Daniel Cosgrove in Dirty Sexy Money by Vivian Zink/ABC
ABC has ordered an additional three scripts for two more of its freshman series: Dirty Sexy Money (woo-hoo!) and... Carpoolers (who knew!). Thus far this season, ABC has picked up Private Practice and Pushing Daisies for full seasons, ordered six more Samantha Who? scripts and, well, done nothing yet about improving Cavemen.Elsewhere, the CW has picked up three additional scripts for Reaper, while Aliens in America, sources tell the Reporter, is set to stay in production beyond its original 13-episode order in hopes of getting a full-season ride.
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Question: I'm really enjoying Aliens in America, and I worry that people are missing the boat on this surprisingly funny half-hour of television. The second episode was one of the highlights of the week! The ratings are abysmal, and so few people are talking about this show that I'm worried it'll be pulled before others have the opportunity to give it a chance. What do you think about Aliens in America — does it have a fighting chance? Does the fact that it's on the CW work against it? Would its ratings be higher if it had been picked up by NBC or CBS?
Answer: If Aliens were airing anywhere but the CW (except perhaps on cable), its ratings probably would be higher, but given the sorry state of the CW's overall ratings this season, it's probably just as well that a show this offbeat is airing on a network that's likely to let it ride. Despite the low ratings, Aliens in America has had generally good media buzz, which should help keep it around. I like the show, and I especially like the
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Dan Byrd, Aliens in America
He might be Medora, Wisconsin's biggest dork ever, but Aliens in America's (Mondays, 8:30 pm/ET, The CW) Justin Tolchuk manages to have a pretty adventurous life anyway. So far we've seen him get on school television, earn some major locker-room cred for his pillow-talk skills, and even crash a rockin' pizza-bagel party. All that and Justin's school year has hardly even begun. TVGuide.com caught up with his portrayer, Dan Byrd, to get some advice on getting girls, getting into "clubs" and getting out of scrapes with the law.
TVGuide.com: Dan, I wanted to congratulate you on being the eighth most bangable girl in Medora.Dan Byrd: [Laughs] Well, thank you, thank you. I'm not sure that warrants congratulations, but thanks.
TVGuide.com: So what were you like in high school — were you every bit as dorky as J
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Question: Maybe I'm a teensy bit spoiled by the excellent summer programs that sucked me in (like Top Chef, Damages, Mad Men and Army Wives), but the fall season so far left me feeling kind of blah. There are some mediocre shows (like Bionic Woman, whose second episode was terrible), some good guilty pleasures (Gossip Girl and Dirty Sexy Money) and some downright stinkers. (Private Practice, anyone? Sorry, I'm not tuning in to watch Addison McBeal ever again.) Even some of my returning faves have gotten off to rough starts. Heroes is plodding along at a dinosaur's pace. Ugly Betty has yet to leave me with the warm and fuzzy feeling that it did last year. What gives? Am I doomed to suffer the fall blahs until Project Runway returns on Nov. 14, or can you suggest some shows that can brighten up my TiVo to-do list? Do you agree that this fall season has been rather lackluster?
Answer: I think that's a fair critical consensus of a fall season that hasn't produced a true breakout smash,
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Jimmy Smits and Paola Turbay in Cane by Cliff Lipson/CBS
Just as NBC has shown some love to four of its new series, CBS has ordered four more scripts for Cane, even though the Jimmy Smits serial (like the Peacock's Life and Journeyman) has had trouble mustering an eye-opening audience.Meanwhile, the CW — which was the first network to give a full-season order to a new show (Gossip Girl) — has ordered three more scripts for Aliens in America. Thank Allah!
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Question: I enjoy your writing very much and very often completely agree with you. But after reading your recent Dispatch on Wednesday-night shows, I felt compelled to write and say I disagree with you on Dirty Sexy Money and Life. I know Money is supposed to be a hoot of a soap, but I found it pretty insufferable. Who wants to spend time with these people? Even for all that money, why would Peter Krause's character (who's constantly praised by the others as being such a "good" person) put up with them for one more day? And I'm hardly drawn to even sample cop shows anymore (don't get me started on the CBS procedurals), but I found Life to be a very nice surprise. Funny and tense, with some moving moments, (Spoiler alert) like Crews helping his recovering partner when she's freaked out by unexpectedly encountering drugs and acknowledging that by shooting a suspect, he's shot and killed another human being. I do think Damian Lewis' performance isn't exactly "beyond reproach" — sometimes ...
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