Category: External TV (Page 363 of 419)

The return of “Dog the Bounty Hunter”

April 18, 2007 /

There’s are two things I’ve learned recently:

1) The big reason that the Arts & Entertainment Network tends to downplay its name these days and simply refer to itself as A&E may be because they’re loaded up with reality shows that don’t exactly qualify as art.

2) Art ain’t everything; sometimes, all you want is the entertainment, anyway…and, on that count, “Dog the Bounty Hunter” definitely makes the grade.

Truth be told, I’d never seen an episode of the show until we scored copies of the first few episodes of the new, fourth season, but when I asked my wife if she was interested in checking it out with me, she said, “Sure. I’ll watch that show just to see his hair.” Well, once I saw Dog’s coif, I couldn’t really argue with her; that’s some kind of look Dog’s got going on…but, hell, are you gonna tell him how ridiculous it looks?

Alas, we didn’t get the season premiere, but we did get the pair of episodes that follow – “Rusty Cuffs” and “The Mystery of Mona Lisa” – and they’re both examples of great reality television. You take someone with a unique profession…in this case, a bounty hunter…and you delve into both their career and their family life. Dog’s dealing with the repercussions of his activites in Mexico, but he’s trying to get back into the swing of things in Hawaii, searching for fugitives and trying to bring them to justice. You get a lot of Dog’s personal side, including his tendency to pray before his assignments and, in “Mona Lisa,” his continuing grief over the death of his daughter, Barbara Katy, but don’t mistake emotional for soft. Dog’s clearly a badass (maybe we should do a real-world Bad Ass Bracket, huh?), and if he doesn’t get the job done, he gets angry.

Any time a season premiere makes you want to go back and investigate previous seasons, a show’s doing something right. If you’re bored with reality shows like “The Apprentice” or “Survivor,” you’re not alone…but “Dog the Bounty Hunter” is anything but boring.

External TV, News, Reviews, TV

Pretty Tied Up

April 17, 2007 /

In all six years of “The Shield,” I don’t believe we’ve ever seen Vic Mackey quite like this before – unless, of course, you count his memorable beatdown of Armadillo in season two – and I have to say, it’s good to see badass Vic is finally back. Picking up right where the last episode left off, Vic continues to bullshit Nadia (Guardo’s girlfriend) as he sets a meet with Guardo. The El Salvadorian thinks nothing of the ransom, dropping off the money with a posse of fellow gangbangers so he can deal with the kidnapper in his own way, but when he’s captured by Vic and taken to an abandoned warehouse, he soon realizes that it’s something much bigger.

The guy actually gives up a name a little too easily (which should have been the first clue that he was lying), but Vic checks it out, only to find that the guy Guardo gave up has been in jail for over a month. With an alibi secured, Vic returns to the warehouse he has Guardo tied up in and tries a new method: torture by way of a thick metal chain to the face. Guardo looked like he was definitely in a world of pain, and there’s no doubt in my mind that Vic never misses a single episode of “24.” Still, it looked like Shane had finally convinced him to back off, because, well, the guy would have spoken if he knew anything (right?), but Vic’s one persistent dude, and so he shoots Guardo in the head.

In the words of Jack Bauer: damnit! Just when the Strike Team had finally been cleared of all suspicion, Vic had to go and ruin everything by murdering another innocent in cold blood. Now, Guardo is hardly an innocent man, but he didn’t have anything to do with Lem’s death, and Shane only feels worse for it. Plus, it almost more than assures that Vic will feel the sting of his brash actions in the very near future. That is, if he’s still around. Claudette is strongly pushing for Vic’s impending retirement, and she’s even bringing in a new guy to begin training as his replacement.

Meanwhile, Dutch and Billings work a multiple homicide involving an ex-Armed Forces meth head running around town stealing amphetamine from pharmacies, and Ronnie jumps onboard to lend a helping hand. It was great to see Ronnie get a little more face time than usual, and we can only hope that this trend will continue through the end of the series. It just might if Tina’s sudden flirtatious behavior around him matures and we see the two become a couple. Though methinks Dutch wouldn’t be too happy about that.

Of course, Dutch Boy already has his hands full. Between partnering with Billings (whose Odd Couple team-up is priceless, by the way) and his newfound static with the FBI (who have ordered him to drop all inquiries into the El Salvadorians), he may not have the time to continue wooing the young up-and-comer. Let’s hope I’m wrong, or he may continue his investigation into the Strike Team.

On a side note, it looks like Danny took the sergeant post she was offered at the end of last week’s episode, but it’s probably safe to say that we won’t be seeing too many repercussions of her decision. That character died a long time ago; right around the time Julian officially became a waste of space. Seriously, though. Is Michael Jace perfectly content with acting as background nowadays? I couldn’t care less, but it’s an interesting observation that needs to be dealt with sooner than later. Just ship the guy off to another station and get back to the good stuff.

External TV, The Shield, TV

Better late than never: “The Tudors”

April 17, 2007 /

“You think you know a story, but you only know how it ends; to get to the heart of the story, you have to go back to the beginning.” So it is said at the beginning of the opening credits for Showtime’s new series, “The Tudors.”

I know, I know: new is relative. The show premiered on April 1st – in fact, it was the highest rated debut for any original series in the history of the network – so I’m probably one of the last people to get around to investigating this show, but I’ve finally had the chance to check out the first few episodes, and lemme tell ya, it ain’t bad.

Now, of course, by “it ain’t bad,” I first and foremost mean that it’s full of sex and violence, two things that tend to make any show worthy of investigation by a red-blooded American male. Understand that I’m not looking to dumb it down by claiming that those are the only two reasons to check it out; it’s just that there are no less than four sex scenes in the first episode alone, so it’s not as though you can really ignore that particular aspect of the series.

The series – intended to run for only 10 episodes – explores the early years of the reign of King Henry VIII of England. Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars as the King, and he does a fine job, but the real star of the show is Sam Neill, who plays Cardinal Wolsey; his performance might not be up the the standards set by Orson Welles and John Gielgud in their respective turns in “A Man for All Seasons,” but there’s little question that he raises the level of class within “The Tudors” considerably. The stand-out amongst the more fresh faces of the cast is Steven Waddington, who plays the Duke of Buckingham.

The show looks gorgeous, flows along at a rapid clip, and it’s extremely easy to get caught up in it; I’m not always swept up in period pieces so immediately, but “The Tudors” captures your attention from the start. Yes, as the narration freely admits, you do know how this story ends…but the events leading to that point are not quite so well-documented in film or on television. Given the the explicit nature, you won’t be seeing this show up on a necessary-viewing list for any high school history classes, but “The Tudors” continues to build Showtime’s slate of high-quality original programming to levels which should have HBO concerned.

UPDATE: So much for that 10-episode plan. Showtime has renewed the series for a second season. Sweet, does this mean it’s time to start making shit up?

External Entertainment, External TV, Reviews, TV

24, Hour 18: This is your brain. This is your brain on adrenaline. Any questions?

April 17, 2007 /

Scout’s honor: from the moment that Wheelbarrow Wayne said that he was getting out of the bunker to give his press conference, I said out loud, “Oh good, that way you can die on national television.” Come on, you all saw this coming, right? He had all of his ducks in a row. The suitcase nukes were secured, and Senator Roark was planning to resign. As a favor to Jack – and frankly, Wayne did owe Jack, since Jack agreed to be Wayne’s martyr a mere 17 hours earlier – he agreed to a zany plan to extract Audrey Raines from the clutches of the Chinese that involved potentially handing over Russian missile technology to the Chinese. There is no way in hell that the leader of any country agrees to this, of course, but dammit, we have six hours to kill.

Like I said, it was all in the cards. Wayne had to take a fall. And Roark didn’t waste any time swinging his dick around, smacking Karen Hayes on the forehead with it the first chance he got. Big surprise, that, though I did get a big laugh out of his assistant’s reaction when he said, before the President collapsed and Roark was planning on resigning, “At least we’ll have more time to spend together.” She seemed completely repulsed by the idea. That better come into play before season’s end.

The entire time that Jack was making his Draconian deal with the Chinese, I’m thinking, “Tell Buchanan.” Not because I thought that CTU would go along with it, but because I have grown tired of Jack always having to double-deal. When Morris forced Chloe’s hand, I was actually pleased. And when Palmer went down, I knew that the first thing Roark would do was repeal that order. Hell, I would have done the same thing in his shoes. I’m sorry, you want to give the Chinese what, exactly? Um, no. Sorry dude, tough break for your girlfriend. Pity her other TV show was canceled, or she wouldn’t be in this position.

So Jack has gone rogue, whatever the hell that means anymore. Roark has assumed the presidency for the foreseeable future, and I’m guessing his first Presidential act will be to have the Biscuit drawn and quartered on the White House lawn. Chloe has been taken out of the loop as Jack’s lifeline…oh, hell, I’ve already gotten bogged down in more minutiae than the writers have. But if the writers must remember one thing, it’s that we still haven’t forgotten that they have yet to reveal what Wayne had to do to get Jack out of prison in the first place. We won’t suffer flogging as well as Karen Hayes does. In fact, I’m pretty sure the Neilsen numbers already reflect that.

24, External TV, TV, TV Action

Can we save “Friday Night Lights”?

April 16, 2007 /

Any FNL fans out there? Last fall, I put “Friday Night Lights” on my list of five new shows that must survive the season, and it hasn’t disappointed. Simply stated, it’s one of the best-written and best-acted shows on television. Other than “Heroes,” I can’t think of a new show that’s any better than “Friday Night Lights.” It has struggled at times with its ratings, but it’s up against the “American Idol” juggernaut, so it’s tough to say how the show would do against normal competition.

The ratings have increased as the year has worn on, and CNN has reported that NBC has ordered six new scripts for a second season. This doesn’t mean that the show has been picked up for another year, but it’s a reason to be hopeful.

If you’re interested in watching the show, NBC has decided to stream the entire season on their website and if you’re already a fan, be sure to sign the petition to save the show. (Don’t worry, you don’t have to contribute any money to show your support.) I’m sure the network is keeping track of how many people are watching episodes online (as well as the petition) to get a feel for its potential audience next season, so here’s a case where you can actually help save a wonderful show.

External TV, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

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