There’s some interesting stuff on DVD this week, some which I’d love to comment on, but haven’t watched yet, so can’t. Rest assured, I’ll be watching them at some point, but until then, you can check out season seven of The Shield and season two of Reaper and report back to me. Click on the pics below for the links to Amazon.

I do want to give special kudos to the Norman Lear TV Collection, a fab new set that includes 19 discs of classic stuff and six hours of bonus material. It’s the first seasons of All in the Family, Good Times, The Jeffersons,  Maude, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (first 25 episodes), One Day at a Time, and Sanford & Son. It sounds like a must-have for any Norman Lear fan, and a good reminder of the vast number of shows Lear helmed.

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Dog the Bounty Hunter is a rough gem. Over the holidays, I saw Dog the Bounty Hunter on On the Record with Greta Van Susteren. Wow, that guy looks like nine miles of bad road, doesn’t he? But it was sweet how he called Greta “ma’am” and was so polite and gentlemanly. Despite his rough looks and questionable past, Dog really seems to have a good heart, and Lord knows he’s got the bounty biz down pat. Things were going great until the interview was over and he signed off from Hawaii with “Obama Country!” That seemed a little awkward for Greta. Anyway, check out Dog the Bounty Hunter on A&E. It’s rough fun.

Those slippery floors on The Biggest Loser made me crazy. We faithfully watched The Biggest Loser this season, and loved seeing everyone get healthy and change their lives for the better. But the season finale made us grip our chairs with suspense. Not because we wanted to see who’d win — we pretty much knew Michelle had it in the bag — but because of those slippery floors on the stage.  Every time a female contestant emerged in her fancy dress and high heels, she was in dire peril of skating across the floor and landing on her nicely-toned butt. Thank goodness Bob Harper was there to help the ladies across the floor. Next time, think about sticking some of those non-skid grippers to the bottom of your shoes, girls. After all that work, you don’t want to end up in the hospital with a broken rib or something. Read the rest of this entry »

Spotlight Show of the Night

E! True Hollywood Story (E!, 8:00 p.m./7:00 p.m. Central) – This special titled “Young Hollywood: A To Zac” looks at this Disney Channel era we seem to be in. The youngsters love folks like Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers and Zac Effron. And the rest of us need to know who they are so we can stay hip and trendy. Or something like that. And think; in just two hours you’ll know all you need to know to speak with any pre-teen or teenage girl you happen to run into. That’s convenience!

Beginnings, Endings & Specials

Glamour’s 25 Dos and Don’ts (The Style Network, 9:00 p.m./8:00 p.m. Central) – Ooh, another countdown show. I expect the women of the world to be twice as fashionable and beautiful after watching this one hour special. Man tomorrow is going to be beautiful!

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8:00p/7:00 Central

• Programming is hard, and especially around the holiday season. So NBC, who has more trouble than usual of late with quality programming, has put together a series of specials spotlighting the best holiday moments in various categories. The specials will run through Christmas and start tonight with Greatest Holiday Moments: TV & Film Countdown. These are to be followed by: Songs of the Season, TV’s Merriest Christmas Moments, TV’s All Timem Christmas Songs and a ‘Hilarious Home Video Countdown.’ That’s setting a pretty high expectation putting ‘Hilarious’ right there in the title. There’s a reason Rosie’s Variety Show didn’t say Rosie’s Hilarious Variety Show. False advertising is a serious crime.
• Cartoon Network has a new Batman: The Brave and the Bold, featuring Aquaman, followed by a jellyfish attack on The Secret Saturdays. They also don’t give episode details on their site. MyNetwork TV is riding the ongoing success of WWE SmackDown! to an unprecedented ratings victory over The CW last week.
• FOX still wants to know Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, while Melinda tracks down a girl who’s been missing for 12 years on CBS’s Ghost Whisperer. National Geographic counters with the Dog Whisperer in case GW fans are easily confused.
• ABC has the live-action Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, while The CW brings you Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. Nickelodeon has Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh! reuniting the entire cast for this holiday special.

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8:00p/7:00 Central

• It’s the first season finale of Toughest Race on Earth: Iditarod on the Discovery Channel. Nome is less than 100 miles away and it’s time for the racers to dig deep.
• Tonight on ABC, Wife Swap features switches between a mother who’s given up her own dreams to allow her husband 30 years of delusions that he can still be a rock icon and a mother of nine who rules with an iron fist. TLC brings another Real Simple. Real Life.
• Over on CBS, Melinda tries to help a man suffering from amnesia on Ghost Whisperer. And I’ll bet Jim’s hanging around, too. In fact, if you’ve seen last week’s episode take a wild guess who the man with amnesia is.
• Much easier to figure out is MyNetwork TV’s WWE SmackDown! See a man. Smack him down. All hail Vince! Have we had the wrestling edition of FOX’s Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? yet? How about the babes of wrestling edition of NBC’s Deal or No Deal?
• Chris’ popularity is put to the test in high school when the dorkiest girl in school asks him out on The CW’s Everybody Hates Chris. Then, on The Game, Melanie finds a “McHottie” at work.

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Animal Planet

8:00p/7:00 Central

• While FOX still wants to know Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, NBC just wants to know if it’s a Deal or No Deal.
• TLC offers up another Real Simple. Real Life. helping real women with their … real lives. Yeah, I guess that was kind of obvious. So do I have to explain what ABC’s Wife Swap is about? Do people think it’s a show about swingers? Ha! Even the official description of the series makes sure to clarify this: “The wives exchanges husbands, children and lives (but not bedrooms) to discover just what it’s like to live in another woman’s shoes.” That, my friends, is hilarious!
• MyNetwork TV doesn’t have to explain that WWE SmackDown doesn’t have men smacking their women down. Even though, I think that has happened on occasion actually.
• When a kid’s make-believe friend causes havoc, Melinda has to play a game of hide-and-seek on Ghost Whisperer. Also, does death come knocking? You know it would be sometime this month (sweeps!) if it’s gonna happen.
• The CW offers Everybody Hates Chris, with Chris trying to break up Doc’s relationship, followed by The Game, with Kelly and Jason both trying to move on. Meanwhile, Discovery is relocating Toughest Race on Earth: Iditarod to face all this competition. Tonight, Eskimo Nelson considers dropping out of the race while the Busers make a move to help Martin secure another win.

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The Partridge Family: The Complete Third Season. Who knew cute little Danny Bonaduce would grow up to be a reality star with substance abuse issues? OK, maybe that’s not such a huge stretch, but there’s something comforting about the singing Partridge Family and their groovy bus. It’s good clean fun that ran from 1970 to 1974. You know what? I think I love you. Buy It.

Nash Bridges: The First Season. I love the buddy-stuff between Don Johnson and Cheech Marin, one of the coolest cop teams to ever take down the bad guys. Sadly, much of the original music on this set has been replaced by instrumental overdubs, and season one includes only eight episodes. Buy it anyway.

Survivorman: Collection 2. It takes a special breed of person to plop themselves down on an Arctic ice floe or Costa Rican rainforest and struggle to survive. Maybe watching it makes us feel we could make it, too, with a little ingenuity and resourcefulness. Whatever the reason, we love Survivorman in this house, and continue to marvel at Les Stroud’s self-imposed adventures. Kinda glad I’m not married to him, though. Buy It.

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