I’ve been thinking back, yet again, to the days of old. So many shows that have joined the annals of television history, some good, most bad. Actually, an overwhelming number of shows that have seen life have been bad. Yet in the totality of things, every network can boast at least one lineup of historical successes per night.

Or so I’m out to prove. Or disprove. Well, really, all I’m out to do is schedule the ultimate in television experiences for a week. If I can ever make it that far. Many months ago, I talked about my ultimate in NBC Thursdays. Then, more recently, I moved on to Sundays on FOX. The goal is to find one perfect week of TV, but that’s many posts away. So for now, let’s deal with the challenge at hand: Tuesday nights on ABC. Ah, the memories. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve already waxed poetic (or very much not so) on NBC’s cancellation of Trauma. Spoiler Alert: I think it was a ill-advised move. Since I’ve been covering the show since it premiered (heck, before it premiered), the illustrious editorial team here at CliqueClack asked me if I wanted to continue covering it (as I seem to be the standard barer for covering shows after their cancellation). I want to continue because I’m such a fan of the show (I think it’s much better than the recently saved Southland), but only if I can abstain from continued whining about its cancellation.

This post is obviously the exception that will hopefully prove the rule.

Read the rest of this entry »

Things were a little slow on the DVD front last week, but business has certainly picked back up. The big shows are back with sets from Dexter, Greek, Eli Stone, Dirty Sexy Money, Gossip Girl, iCarly, and Sons of Anarchy. We also have some classic TV (Simon & Simon), some Discovery favorites (Man vs Wild, Ghost Adventures), and animation (Total Drama Island, The Simpsons, The Smurfs). It all makes for a pretty solid collection. My pick of the week, Simon & Simon. It’s Rick and A.J. man! Pictures, links, and the rest of the releases, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Thank you, ABC. Though you may be insensitive bastards who decided to cancel Eli Stone, you at least had the balls to finish the season and give fans some form of closure. Granted, it wasn’t what they really wanted – several successful years of quality storytelling, followed by a tearful, yet happy, ending. But, with television the way it is, they’ll take what they can get. Even if the ending is half-assed, like Bob mentioned in his post.

Since Mr. Degon so eloquently put my thoughts into his post (stop reading my mind, Bob!), I felt that the final review for Stone shouldn’t be about the ending as a whole, but about the characters that remained. Eli, Jordan, Taylor, Matt — over the last 26 episodes, these folks went through more emotional transformations than a normal human could handle. A majority of these transformations took place in the last three episodes, with the series finale being the place where they were completed.

Read the rest of this entry »

So I was watching the final episode of Eli Stone this weekend, trying to figure out just what the hell was going on. It wasn’t that it was a bad episode. It was a fine episode, and a decent ending for the show … given the circumstances. Honestly, though, a lot of it felt forced and even at times like the writers were grasping at straws. The conversation between Eli and “his father” toward the end of the episode was confusing and open ended, which is fine. A clear cut answer to everything wouldn’t have worked for this show. However, after watching that scene, I sorta wish I hadn’t.

Read the rest of this entry »

… and very tiny ones for the King of Gilboa. And,  if we want to carry on with that little game, very good numbers for the King of the Courts. It was another fairly typical summer week. As has been the pattern, FOX was the big winner in the demo, taking 5 of 7 nights. In viewers, despite having only two new programs, CBS still managed to take 6 of 7 nights. Crazy how that works. Along the way, a whole lot of people watched the Jackson Memorial. On the other end of the spectrum, a very few devoted individuals continued to tune in for Kings. There were also premieres for Big Brother, The Great American Road Trip, 10 Things I Hate About You, and Warehouse 13. Read the rest of this entry »

On the whole, it was a rather uneventful week of ratings. The most interesting story might have been what we didn’t see. As in, new programming on CBS. Despite the lack of anything of note to report in the ratings (even Harper’s Island was a repeat), CBS managed to average the most viewers on six of the seven nights. The network was only topped on Wednesday, and even then only trailed NBC by less than half a million viewers. Of course, that’s just viewers. FOX managed to win four of the nights in the demo. Still, without even trying, CBS is having a successful summer. Elsewhere, more good news to report on the cable side for HBO, Oxygen, ESPN, and BET. Read the rest of this entry »