LOST! The new episodes are great! THE WIRE comes to an end.

LOST (ABC)
I finally got to watching the return episodes. The show is in fantastic shape, and many things work well, but I'd rather focus on what's not working for me. First of all, everytime they do these huge wide shots and have a lot of people on the island interacting, it's never a good thing. The banter between the large groups on the island go over like a lead balloon. And I continue to hate the fact that Hurley is more often than not used as "comic relief." And it's only because he's overweight that they think somehow everything he does needs to be comicecly inclined -
otherwise, the first episode back was pretty great.

UPDATE: I've seen the following 5 eps (i think there's one or 2 fresh ones left.) They are simply spectacular. The Flash-Forwards they've been using have been brilliant. The story they did with the guy who needed to get back to the past and deal with Jeremy Davies was mind-bending, and the episode that concerened the birth of the Asian baby was genius in its structure. Wow, I can't believe how much this show has rebounded. It seems as if that end date has really given them the full freedom to tell this story right. And with great imagination and characters. These episodes have been the event of the new season.
Grade: A +


PIONEERS OF TELEVISION (PBS)
Catch this if you can - it's a great history of television. Last night I watched the story of THE HONEYMOONERS and how it wasn't popular at all in the single season it aired - didn't even win its time slot. Jackie Gleason did 2 shows a week to make the "classic 39" - which still play on tv to this day. I LOVE LUCY innovated using a studio audience, and the ANDY GRIFFETH decided he wanted his show shot like a film so that they didn't have to go as hard for the jokes and could have nice quiet 2 shot scenes. They have an hour on the late nite game as well. Highly reccomended.
Grade: A


SNL: JONAH HILL & MIMI (NBC)
Johah Hill is really funny and single handedly saved this episode from the fast forward button all night. Mariah Carrey, on the other hand, came off as utterly retarded. Look, she's quite pretty on some level, but her insanity is vibisble on her face - she just comes off as aggressively stupid, which is the vibe I get from her. She sings like an angel, but her music Saturday nite was unusually generic. It reminded me of IDOL in some sad way. Last night had some great bits, none as funny as Jonah Hill telling Andy Samberg that he had been seeing his father on a romantic level. If I had any set of blog skill, I'd add a link, but my blog site for some reason lately is very hard to navigate previously easy endeavors - like addding a link and/or pictures - although I'm sure it will just take some time for me to improve the site. In any event, this was a funny bit and you can search it out on YOUTUBE using SNL JONAH HILL DATING FATHER or some variation of that. I thought Tracey Morgan was REALLY funny in his tirada about Hilary Clinton - and his use of the cue cards somehow made it funnier. And as much as I really don't care for Seth Myers on the show, I did think the "Oh, Really" segment was also pretty funny as it pertained to the Spitzer stuff. As was the mock commercial with Spitzer taking on awful media cases. So...this was pretty good - but Jonah Hill was unexpectedly funny in this kind of live outing - very cool under pressure and very confident about his delivery - he is the real thing and elevated this week's SNL. Let's hope they continue to impress because when this show is on and they're really satirizing things that we actually relate to on some level, it's great. And it's really depressing when this show is lame, which has been going on most of this season. But they do seem to have a renewed confidence - maybe in part from a cover story in ENT. WEEKLY that declared on the cover that they were "Hilarious & Relevant re: all the election stuff." So I hope they stay funny. It wold be a miracle if they had another solid outing - but I will be watching - though I think they're off for a few weeks. Until then:
Grade: B


CELEB REHAB REUNION (VH1)
It was cool to see how everybody's doing - besides Brigitte Nielson, who was the major success story, it seems like everybody is just a tad better than they were. Jeff Conway still breaks my heart, but this was a great series and I look forward to the next cycle.
Grade: B +


HOWARD STERN RADIO SHOW (SIRIUS)
Has been funnier than ever. They had a discussion about bodily fluids the other day that almost had me crying. And Howard inquired as to whether Artie's dad, who was paralyzed from the neck down from a roofing accident, was engaging in oral sex with Artie's mother. Artie's response was one for the books (but unprintable here.)


MOMENT OF TRUTH (FOX)
This show is really sick, and really great. The questions they ask literally destroy the families that go on. Why they go on and risk everything for a few bucks I'm not sure. But at the very least, the show lives up to its name by asking some life changing questions.
Grade: B +


Have you seen that late nite infomercial with Pam Dawber hawking something called IQ QUICK READING PROGRAM? It's one of those programs where you become a speed reader overnite? The program looks interesting, but Pam Dawber must be the strangest looking woman on tv with the oddest facial expressions on the tube. And her speaking style is....really odd. But she still sort of looks like she did on MORK AND MINDY.


CROWNED: THE MOTHER OF ALL PAGEANTS (THE CW)
The first episode of this was insane and glorious in its stupidity, then it just got stupid.
Grade: D


GONE COUNTRY (CMT)
Great show - but the wrong guy won. In my opinion, it should've been Bobby Brown or Marcia Brady. You haven't lived until you've heard Dee Snider complaining about how Marcia Brady is a much better country artist than himself.
Grade: B -


THE WIRE (HBO)
It's hard to go on about this show, as much has already been stated about the brilliance and unbelievable bleakness and reality of this show. (SPOILER ALERT - SPOILER ALERT - if you have NOT WATCHED THE FINALE YET, STOP READING!!!!) This was another superb season - pretty much perfect in every way. If I'm quibbling, maybe in the last episode they could've used a bit more heart - But I thought that based on what McNulty and Freamon did, and their previous involvement with Daniels, that the three of them would've had some great scenes together. Instead, Daniels took this very hard line which I understood, I just didn't understand why he never had a real sit down with the detectives and talked about what happened, so the finale was missing just a little bit of heart for me. otherwise, I loved everything else that happened, and the loving, last 20 minutes of pure montage where we got to see the fates of many of the characters. This was a great, novel-like show and it will be sorely missed. And for the very most part, the finale, unlike others, really rocked.
Grade: A +


WALMART: THE HI COST OF LO LIVING (IFC)
If we're to believe this docu, WALMART is evil. The thing is, I think I believe it.
Grade: A


ROBOT CHICKEN (TOON or COM - not sure)
I just started watching a bunch of these. It's a claymation sketch show that has no right to be funny. It's produced by Seth Green and others.
Hilarious.
Grade: B +


AMERICAN IDOL (FOX)
Is great again, thanks to some truly talented singers. My money is on the kid with the dreadlocks - so far...I think.


BREAKING BAD (AMC)
Four episodes in, and I've given up. I thought the lead was great, but I didn't get his wife, didn't really like his teenage partner, didn't really love the storytelling...enough said.
Grade: C -


JANICE & ABBY (OXYGEN)
Totally and utterly useless.
Grade: D -


THE BIGGEST LOSER (NBC)
I love this show.
Grade: A

THE WHITEST KIDS YOU KNOW (IFC)
This is a really funny unscensored sketch show, sort of in the spirit of THE KIDS IN THE HALL except that it's really dirty sometimes - and almost always really funny.
The sketches are hit and miss, but mostly hit. I'll be watching these.
Grade: B