Premieres and Notables June 25- July 1, 2007

Finally... a light week.


Monday, 6/25

Arthur; PBS. 7:30 am CST (check local listings). Season Premiere.
The eleventh season begins.

Wayside; Nickelodeon. 11:30 am CST. Series Premiere.
An animated series, based on the Wayside School book series.

History Detectives; PBS. 8 pm (check local times). Season Premiere.
Season Five.

Semper Fi: One Marine's Journey; Showtime. 7:30. Documentary.
A gay Marine gets outed and loses his job.


Tuesday, 6/26

Shaq's Big Challenge; ABC. 8 pm. Series Premiere.
Shaquille O'Neal and a team of experts help six adolescents with their weight problems.


Thursday, 6/28

Burn Notice; USA. 9 pm. Series Premiere.
Bruce Campbell alert! He guest-stars in this series about a spy who is suddenly cut loose, and now he has to find his way in civilian life-- which he does by helping people with his unique skill set all while trying to figure out why he was let go from the spy game.

Hey Paula; Bravo. 9 pm. Series Premiere.
Another C-list celeb lets the cameras film her life. This time, Paula Abdul tries to convince us she's not on drugs.

The most abused show of the 2006-2007 season, Men in Trees, beings repeating at 9:01 on ABC. The show really hit its stride in the third episode, so sit through the pilot tonight and promise yourself you'll come back the next few Thursdays. It's worth it.

Another slow-starter ends its life tonight. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip airs its last episode at 9:00 on NBC. I never found the problems others had with the show because the main characters shared my views. Sadly, that wasn't the case for most of America as the views were not as even-handed as they should have been at first (okay, Matt was downright condescending-- which fit the character but turned off viewers). The last run of episodes were well-done and balanced out the preachiness (like when Harriet gave an explanation on why Danny should pray to God while Danny explained why he was not comfortable with it-- it was a great scene where no one was right or wrong) or just plain had great moments like when Matt realized why he had to suggest to Danny to have Jordan make Danny the guardian of her child in the event of her death. It wasn't my favorite show, but I'll miss it.


Friday, 6/29

Degrassi: The Next Generation; The N. 7:00. Return
Kevin Smith's favorite show (okay, I know he's a fan-- and guest-starred as himself in a few eps--, but I shouldn't say "favorite") returns.

The Best Years; The N. 7:30. Series Premiere.
Best described as a college-aged Degrassi.


Sunday, 7/1

The Loop airs its last three episodes (FOX, 6:30, 7:30, & 8:30). It wasn't a fantastic show, but the actors were great and I laughed quite a bit. I'll terribly miss Philip Baker Hall's boss. Every time that guy was on screen, I laughed. At least one of the most promising young comedic actors, Bret Harrison, has already found a new gig starring in next season's Reaper.

Booooo, CBS!

After three whole airings, CBS pulled Creature Comforts from the schedule, to be replaced by more repeats of New Adventures of Old Christine (could'a been worse: Two and a Half Men).

So much for CBS trying something new. Some parts of the show worked better than others, but the scene where the two voices are smelling wine but the on-camera characters are dogs sniffing a butt was riotous (it's a lot more classy-- and funny-- than it sounds).

Boo, CBS. You do a solid for fans by bringing back Jericho (which said as much for your weak pilot season as it did that you listened to fans), but Pirate Master isn't burning up any ratings records, either.

Who Knew She Was Funny?

I'm behind on The Sopranos (although I do know how it ended), but even I found the humor in the spoof Hillary Clinton did of the show's finale. Ya gotta love "Mac Daddy" Bill's reaction to the appetizers Hillary ordered.

And the clip even had a cameo by Vince "Johnny Sack" Curatola.

Check it out here.

Premieres and Notables June 18-24, 2007

One I forgot last week: tonight is Robot Chicken's half-hour Star Wars special on [adult swim]/Cartoon Network at 10 pm and then reairs a few more times this week. George Lucas liked the skit when Darth Vader called the Emperor about the destruction of the Death Star so much, he agreed to lend his voice to the special. If you like Star Wars, or making fun of Star Wars, then check it out.


Monday, 6/18

Curl Girls, Logo. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Lesbian surfers...

Age of Love; NBC. 8 pm. Series Premiere.
A 31-year-old tennis pro gets to pick from a smorgasbord of women in yet another reality dating show. But this one has a twist: the women are either "kittens" (women in their twenties) or "cougars" (women in their forties). I'm sure it'll be classier than what you'd expect...

Simon Schama's Power of Art; PBS. 8 pm (check local listings). Series Premiere.
A documentary series examining the stories behind some of art's masterpieces.

Heartland; TNT. 9 pm. Series Premiere.
Treat Williams stars in this medical drama about transplant surgeons.

The Closer; TNT. 8 pm. Season Premiere.

And a fantastically funny episode of The New Adventures of Old Christine reairs tonight at 7:30 (CBS). I'd put it in the top ten funniest episodes of the past TV season.


Tuesday, 6/19

P.O.V.; PBS. 9 pm (check local listings). Season Premiere.
The 20th season begins.

AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Al Pachino; USA. 8 pm. Special.
Is it me, or does this seem to happen more than annually?


Wednesday, 6/20

AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies; CBS. 7 pm. Special.
It's been ten years since AFI listed its 100 greatest American films list, and it'll be interesting to see what new films made the cut-- and what old films got pushed out.


Thursday, 6/21

There's a The Office marathon from 7-9 pm (NBC).

Live From Abbey Road; Sundance. 9 pm. Mini-series (12 part).
A look at what it takes to put on a live concert and includes rehearsals at the famous studio. The first ep features Norah Jones and John Mayer.

American Greed: Scams, Scoundrels and Scandals; CNBC. 9 pm. Series Premiere.
A look at the lengths people will go to get rich (except work).


Friday, 6/22

Expose: America's Investigative Reports; PBS. 9 pm (check local listings). Season Premiere.

I've Got Nothing to Wear; TLC. 9 pm. Series Premiere.
I've got a headache writing that these stupid shows keep cropping up.

Stargate Atlantis; SciFi. 8 pm. Season Finale.

And my hat's off to Stargate SG1 (SciFi, 7 pm) for wrapping up its tenth and final season (the longest-running American sci-fi series). I didn't get into it (admittedly, I didn't try real hard), but it deserves its props.