What's on the Replay

September 23, 2005

With the new tv season, there are actually things on my DVR worth watching.

Arrested Development picks up as the best show on television. Jim Cramer upgrades the Bluth Company from "triple sell" to "don't buy" and the company celebrates with a "mission accomplished" banner. Lucille goes off mood-altering drugs after hearing "some kind of scientist" on the Today Show.

I have watched a couple of episodes of the new Battlestar Galactica and it looks interesting, but it is difficult to figure out what is going on without having seen the miniseries/pilot and first season.

Family Guy has done very well in its second chance. Maybe its because the Simpsons are no longer as relevant as it used to be or because Family Guy has finally staked out its own identity, but Family Guy is wonderfully inappropriate.

Kitchen Confidential doesn't seem like it will be as edgy as its source material. It seems like the show could end up being very sitcom-y, despite being shot single camera. It's hard to tell from the pilot if the show will be witty or witless. It could go either way. I'll stick with the original Chef Bourdain.

Lost opened by solving one mystery (what's in the hatch) by posing an even bigger, what is that in the hatch? Why is it there? An article in the NY Times indicates that the creators have a plan for the series and aren't making it all up as they go along: The Laws of the Jungle

But the creators do know how the series ends. The survivors will not learn they are part of some dastardly experiment, or discover they are in purgatory, or wake up from a bad dream. "These guys get off the island," said Mr. Cuse.

Then, nearly in unison, both men add, "If it's an island."

This reminds me of a bit from a Simpsons episode (not surprisingly); Lisa On Ice:

[in the future, Lisa is being sworn in as President]

Chief Justice: I now pronounce you President of these United --

Reporter: Stop the inauguration! I just discovered our President Elect got an F in second grade gym class!

[crows gasps; Lisa is handcuffed]

Chief Justice: In that case I sentence you to a lifetime of horror on Monster Island. [to Lisa] Don't worry, it's just a name.

[Lisa and others are chased by fire-breathing monsters]

Lisa: He said it was just a name!

Man: What he meant is that Monster Island is actually a peninsula.

Hopefully, that's not what Cuse and Lindelof are planning for the Lostaways.

My Name is Earl is the best of the new shows with buzz. The SF Chronicle's Tim Goodman describes the appeal succinctly: "What we've got here, essentially, is a dim-bulb, belatedly big-hearted Sisyphus."

The Office may not be as good as the British original, but the show is paced differently than any other comedy.

The Amazing Race: Family Edition will probably not live up to the "classic" seasons. It may be time to watch Season 1 on DVD.

The Simpsons is now starting its 16th season on the air. After season 7, the show started to go downhill. It's up from the worst of the new era, but there isn't much new left for the Simpson family to do. Although the material on the latest DVD release (season 6) far outshines the new episodes, the show is still funny, just not as funny or clever as it was during its heyday.

Posted by Andrew Raff at September 23, 2005 04:30 PM