Community
This was a week where history played out before our eyes, with revolution in Egypt catching journalists — including several of TV's biggest news stars (Anderson Cooper, Christiane Amanpour among others) — in the dangerous crossfire. Another colossal winter storm cutting a swath of snowy and icy peril across the country kept millions glued to the Weather Channel (if the elements didn't knock out your cable). And Charlie Sheen's epic real-time E True Hollywood Story continues, shutting down TV's most popular sitcom and challenging Hollywood's priorities in the process.
But hey, what else was on?
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HUZZAH! The greatest compliment you can pay any TV show is to want to watch it again the second it's over. And once the February sweeps calms down, that's my plan with this week's delightfully inventive instant-classic episode of...
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Lights Out
Cheers to Lights Out for hooking up with a pair of veterans from The Wire.
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FX's hard-hitting boxing drama costars Pablo Schreiber — best known as disaffected dock worker Nick Sobotka from Season 2 of HBO's inner-city masterpiece — as Johnny Leary, the ethically shady manager of Holt McCallany's "Lights" Leary....
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One Tree Hill
One Tree Hill
8/7c CW
This episode pays tribute to the 2009 film The Hangover, with a slight twist: A wild and crazy adventure happens at a bachelorette party instead of at a bachelor party. The guest of honor is bride-to-be Brooke, and when she awakens in the morning, she can't remember the details of the prior outrageous night. Her friends who were with her are in the same boat, so together they try to piece together exactly what happened. Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro guest stars as himself. — Jennifer Sankowski
Read on for previews of the State of the Union Address, Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best, Fashion Show: The Ultimate Collection, Lights Out, Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel and Stand Up Mother.
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Off the Map
Now that a few new series have hit the air, we want to know which one has you glued to your tube. Do the dreamy, life-saving docs of Off the Map make you want to head to the jungle? Or do the super-hero adventures of The Cape and hard-hitting blows on Lights Out get your blood pumping? Does Paula Abdul's Live to Dance make you want to get up on your feet? Or does legal dramedy Harry's Law get you excited for upcoming court appearances? Let us know which new show is your favorite so far after the jump...
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The Good Wife
Send questions to askmatt@tvguidemagazine.com and follow me on Twitter!
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Question: What on earth were the writers thinking when they wrote the January 11 episode of The Good Wife? All the lawyers and investigators acted in a disgusting and sleazy manner, and the gratuitous violence against women done by the male investigator was unforgivable. One more repugnant episode like this one and I won't be watching the show. — Ruth
Matt Roush: I'm betting your reaction is exactly what the show's writers were hoping to evoke (that week, the script was credited to show creators/executive producers Robert and Michelle King). Maybe not the "I'm quitting you" thing, but revulsion for sure. The entire purpose of the episode was to show our quasi-heroes in a negative light. These are not saints, not even Alicia. And I'm glad the show allows us to see that her moral quandaries don't stop with her husband but often extend to her work. Even good lawyers and good wives play dirty, and The Good Wife expects the viewer to be able to handle that. It's refreshing to see a mainstream network drama go a little dark once in a while. That's why they call it drama...
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Holt McCallany
FX President John Landgraf may be suffering a bad case of déjà vu.
Last week, FX debuted its latest series, a boxing drama called Lights Out about a retired former heavyweight champ. Despite a knockout lead performance from Holt McAllany and lavish praise from a number of critics, the show premiered to only 1.5 million viewers — a number reminiscent of the premiere of the also critically adored but soon-canceled Terriers.
FX puts down low-rated Terriers after one season
So what's to blame for the relatively soft launches of two shows from the same network that scored huge debuts with ...
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The Middle
"Why does fun always have a price?"
These are the words of Poor Sue Heck — I can never refer to this scene-stealing character (played brilliantly by Eden Sher) without adding the word "poor" in front of her name — in another hilarious episode of ABC's underappreciated The Middle. Yes, the show is fun, but with the sting of truth. Living in the shadow of the marvelous Modern Family (which offered up another farcical hoot this week), ABC's Wednesday ...
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Modern Family
Our top moments of the week:
9. Some Things Never Change Award: On the season finale of Millionaire Matchmaker, Patti tries to find love for Stacy Kessler — a millionairess whom she threw out of her office earlier in the season. But history repeats itself when Stacy shows her date a cringe-worthy, self-made DVD about preparing for a lingerie shoot, which promptly ends the date, and her relationship with Patti -- again.
8. Scariest Stare-Down: Unsurprisingly, former heavyweight champ Patrick "Lights" Leary throws some blood-splattering punches in the Lights Out premiere. But his most threatening confrontation comes when the big bruiser silently stares down daughter Ava's secret boyfriend, "Brent from Brunswick," after the two...
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The Game
Looks like BET has a hit on its hands. Tuesday's fourth season premiere of The Game brought in 7.7 million viewers, the network told TVGuide.com.
The big number is a win for both BET and the show, which is getting a second chance at life on the cable network. The CW canceled the half-hour comedy about football players and the women who love them after three seasons in 2008. Tuesday night's debut marked BET's biggest original series telecast.
Comeback kid The Game "at home" on BET
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Stacy Keach
Cheers to Lights Out for putting Stacy Keach back into the ring.
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The veteran character actor has been knocked down a few times — most notably, he was incarcerated for cocaine possession in the mid-'80s, interrupting his run as hard-nosed PI Mike Hammer, and suffered a mild stroke in 2009. But he's returned to ...
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