Tuesday, October 02, 2007

On the Glowy Box: When are spies ever NOT awesome, really?

Welcome to a new, and hopefully daily, feature in which I give a brief recap of my thoughts on last night's television, and look forward to tonight's! (Without Lori, "we" won't have quite as many full reviews posted, so this seems like a good compromise.)

Watched Last Night:
Chuck: Still loving this show. Implausible? Yes. Mindless viewing? Sort of. Funny? Definitely. Surprisingly exciting? Absolutely! Chuck is also a perfect example of how far good casting can get you: Zachary Levi is a bright spot in an already-great ensemble (Morgan's useless self aside). I didn't love the whole "Sarah getting all insulted when Chuck doesn't trust her" thing (take a chill pill, babe--who wouldn't be paranoid in this situation?), but that seems to have run its course. Let's just hope they don't start making out next week.

Aliens in America: I definitely saw great potential in this pilot, although upon second viewing, the preachiness became a bit overwhelming. I'm hoping and expecting that they'll get it under control in future episodes. I'm also hoping that they'll use Scott Patterson a bit more as the dad--he's a great addition to the show, adding a bit more loveable gruffness to the role, rather than the sometimes off-putting goofiness of the original dad (this role was recast after the original pilot was filmed). Plus, you know, Luke!

How I Met Your Mother: Didn't live up to the season premiere, and still has a ways to go to reach the comedic heights of last season, but was awesome nonetheless, of course. I loved that they used big words so Gael couldn't understand them ("This is all going to return to masticate you in the gluteals"), and I'm really enjoying seeing Barney as Ted's wing man again. However, didn't George try that whole "I'm from out of town" thing on Seinfeld?

The Bachelor: Read my thoughts here, while I go wash the taste of this show out of my mouth.

Will Watch or DVR Tonight*:
House: House begins interviewing for the open positions on his team and sets the applicants against one another to help treat a woman who has an unusual neurological disorder. Fox, 9 PM.

Reaper: Sam must use a remote-controlled monster truck to capture the escaped soul; Sam, Sock and Ben take down the angry soul who sucks energy from power lines for strength. The CW, 9 PM.

Eureka: Part II of the season finale! Sheriff Carter and Nathan Stark work together to try to save Allison's son and stop the progression of an aggressive virus. Sci Fi, 9 PM.

Boston Legal: Alan struggles with his love life while assisting Jerry and Katie with a high-profile murder trial; the firm hires Lorraine, whom Alan and Denny cannot resist; Judge Weldon awaits Alan's decision. ABC, 10 PM.

Cane: Alex begins his reign as CEO of Duque Rum and presents to the senator his plan for a Florida-based ethanol refinery; Alex must deal with the repercussions of his plot to murder Quinones. CBS, 10 PM.

*Descriptions from Zap2it.com's TV listings.

Yeah, don't ask me how I'm going to manage to watch and/or record three shows at 9. Yeesh.

4 comments:

Vance said...

Wah happened to Lori? Did she go the way my former Tapeworthy writer went?

As for the rest, I had pretty much the exact same thoughts about all the shows. Really. Is Morgan necessary?

Liz said...

Lori is leaving to focus on other things, but will hopefully be back from time to time with guest posts. So...my hostile takeover of this blog is finally complete! Muahahaha!!!

I keep thinking that Morgan has to be some sort of secret spy, or something. Because no one's really that dumb and obnoxious, right? ...Right?

Vance said...

I don't know. Those Jackasses seemed to have made quite a career...

plus Morgan reminds me of the love child between Seth Green (who I actually do like though maybe because of his Buffy days) and Jamie Kennedy (who I actually do like maybe because of Scream). Somehow it seems unnecessary on Chuck though where every other element works so well.

Good call on the secret spy though. That would be an interesting twist!

Liz said...

Ha, that's a pretty good description of Morgan. And a very good point that he's unnecessary just because Chuck works well enough to not need a character whose sole purpose is "comic" relief. Hopefully, that'll mean that he serves some other purpose...