Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
24 always manages to entertain. After watching this trailer for season seven [which doesn’t start until January 2008], I have mixed feelings. On one hand, the show has always been one of my favorites [even with the cougar trap incident and last season Jack killing Curtis]… still, I hope that bringing Tony Almeda back as the main bad guy doesn’t signal the jumping of the shark!
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 40 years since the addition of Barnabas Collins made “Dark Shadows” THE show for horror fans. I was only 8 years old, but I remember the thrill of tuning in each weekday to see vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and more.The popularity of “Dark Shadows” carried over to comics, novelizations and even a couple of movies. Johnny Depp is gearing up to play Barnabas Collins in a new version of “Dark Shadows” and I’m looking forward to that.
Anyone catch the season premiere of “Prison Break”? Now in it’s third season, “Prison Break” continues to entertain and offer some of the best commercial break cliffhangers on tv. It’s pretty amazing how well the writers are able to weave the storylines of the various characters so that they continue to interact despite being on the run and separated over the course of two seasons. The show is well cast and well acted. The writing and pace are such that I’m willing to suspend disbelief and just enjoy the world in which the Scofield brothers exist.
And special mention has to be given to Robert Knepper as Theodore ‘T-Bag’ Bagwell. Is there a more hated character on television now? He’s so bad, he’s good.
The new TV Season is almost upon us. Let’s see what’s worth watching.
SUNDAY
This looks to be one of the weakest nights of all. At 8pm I’ll tune into NBC’s Sunday Night Football while my wife will head into the bedroom to watch ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition followed by Desperate Housewives. No new show looks to be worth the effort on Sunday.
MONDAY
From famine to feast, Monday is loaded with good programing. My guess is, from 8-9pm, we’ll watch Prison Break [FOX] and record Dancing with the Stars [my wife will watch it later while I’m otherwise engaged, thank God]. At 9 we’ll leave it on FOX to catch the new series K-Ville, which has the potential to be very, very good. At 10pm we’ll switch over to the premiere of Journeyman on NBC.
TUESDAY
I doubt that it can be as good as the commercials, but at 8pm I’ll give ABC’s new series Cavemen while recording Bones [FOX] for my wife. I’m hearing good things about CW’s [CW??] Reaper so we’ll watch that and record ABC’s Dancing with the Stars Results show. Then at 10 it’s Boston Legal on ABC. [Denny Crane! Denny Crane!]
WEDNESDAY
Wednesday starts at 8:30 with FOX’s ‘Til Death. At 9 we stay in place for Kitchen Nightmares [more Gordon Ramsey! LOL!]. At 10pm I’ll swing over to ABC to check out Dirty, Sexy Money.
THURSDAY
For years Thursday was the best night of the week for tv, now the only thing I’m checking out is Survivor on CBS.
FRIDAY
Unless something interesting is featured on ABC’s 20/20 at 8pm I won’t turn on the tube until 9pm when I check out Moonlight on CBS about a vampire private eye.
I’ll just be glad when 24 and The Shield return…
Time magazine has come up with their 100 All-Time Best TV Shows. Using their picks only, I whittled it down to my top 25 [listed below]. It’s a bit different from the list using Classic TV’s Top 100, and disappointing in that neither list allowed me the chance to have The Wild, Wild West in my picks.So without further delay, in alphabetical order, my top 25 All-Time Best TV Shows based on Time Magazine’s Top 100:
24
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
American Idol
Bob Newhart Show, The
Cheers
Cosby Show, The
Dick Van Dyke Show, The
Hill Street Blues
Honeymooners, The
I Love Lucy
Leave it to Beaver
Lost
Mary Tyler Moore Show, The
Monkees, The
Oprah
Sanford and Son
Seinfeld
Shield, The
Sopranos, The
Star Trek
Survivor
Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,
Twilight Zone, The
West Wing, The
Wiseguy
I’m a sucker for lists and So here’s my top 25:
Seinfeld (NBC, 1990-98)
Star Trek (NBC, 1966-69)
The Honeymooners (CBS, 1955-56)
The Twilight Zone (CBS, 1959-65)
I Love Lucy (CBS, 1951-61)
The Dick Van Dyke Show (CBS, 1961-66)
Leave it to Beaver (CBS/ABC, 1957-63)
Frasier (NBC, 1993-Present)
Cheers (NBC, 1983-93)
The Andy Griffith Show (CBS, 1960-68)
The Cosby Show (NBC, 1984-92)
The Mary Tyler Moore Show (CBS, 1970-77)
Hill Street Blues (NBC, 1981-87)
Barney Miller (ABC, 1975-82)
The Bob Newhart Show (CBS, 1972-78)
The Carol Burnett Show (CBS, 1967-79)
The Monkees (NBC, 1966-68)
Miami Vice (NBC, 1984-89)
ER (NBC, 1994-Present)
Happy Days (ABC, 1974-84)
The Ed Sullivan Show (CBS, 1948-71)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (CBS/NBC, 1955-65)
Batman (ABC, 1966-68)
Lost in Space (CBS, 1965-68)
The Rockford Files (NBC, 1974-80)
A few minutes ago it came over the wires that Merv Griffin had passed away from prostate cancer at the age of 82. Mr. Griffin started out as a singer, but really hit it big with his self-titled talk show which ran for more than 20 years. He is also known for being the creative genius behind two of television’s most popular and longest running game shows “Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune.”
A couple of posts down Rafael Kayanan mentioned the Enter the Dragon re-make that Kurt Sutter is going to write and direct for Warner Bros. Since I hadn’t heard anything about this, I decided to find out the scoop.…‘writing “Awaken the Dragon” as a contemporized drama about a lone FBI agent who pursues a rogue Shaolin monk into the bloody world of underground martial arts fight clubs.’
Tom Snyder, best known for his late night talk show, Tomorrow (which aired at 1am after The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson), died yesterday at the age of 71.
Younger ZONErs may not know of Tom Snyder, but I fondly remember staying up late to catch his show during the summer when I was in junior high and high school. At the time, Snyder seemed like no other talk show host on television. His sets were minimal, but his guests and topics more than made up for the lack of showbiz glitz. He was cool, but not hip. Most of all, Snyder seemed like a real guy, not a tv show host. I enjoyed the hours I spent watching his programs and the memories that remain.
My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fans.
When I was a kid, I loved “Dark Shadows”. For a time it was one of my favorite shows. Barnabas Collins was the man!
Johnny Depp has just signed to play tv’s coolest vampire in a movie version of “Dark Shadows”. Depp is an excellent choice and here’s to hoping that the big-screen versions of Barnabus and “Dark Shadows” live up to the legacy started on the tube.
William Shatner, one of the stars of ABC’s “Boston Legal” [which is on my “Must See TV” list] has agreed to host a celebrity-interview show for the Biography Channel. “Shatner’s Raw Nerve” will be a 30 minute showcase for Shatner to interview guests ranging from politicians to actors [now there’s a stretch]. So how will this differ from other interview shows? William Shatner “will explore life’s most intriguing questions and unearth his guests’ strange and unknown stories.” Thirteen episodes have been ordered and will begin airing in 2008.
I gotta tell ya, I’ll tune in just to hear Shatner’s view on things. So beam me aboard.
I was never a HUGE fan of “Get Smart”. Sure, it had it’s moments, and I can see where “Get Smart” could really work as a movie.
Despite the fact that “Get Smart” has been well cast with Steve Carell [Maxwell Smart], Anne Hathaway [Agent 99], Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson [Agent 23] and Alan Arkin [The Chief], I’m not convinced that it’s going to be a winner. This teaser trailer didn’t change my mind [although I did chuckle at “You did underestimate me and the element of surpraaaahhh – ”
Happy 4th of July!
When I was a little kid, the 4th of July was for family and friends to get together for trips to the park [or each others houses] and cookouts. Fireworks were always the capper.
Then when my boys were small we always had family over. My boys would play with their cousins [water fights in the yard, basketball and video games]. We’d grill or BBQ something. And then at night I’d bring out the fireworks. I’d get one of the huge sets from Sam’s Club and the kids from the neighborhood would come down to watch the festivities. Once we’d exploded or launched or sparkled everything we’d head in and catch some episodes of The Twilight Zone marathon running on the SciFi channel.
A few years ago, I could tell my fireworks were no longer the highlight of the evening. My niece, nephew and sons were getting older and while they enjoyed getting together Roman candles and sparklers just weren’t cutting it. Ah, how time moves on.
At least I still have the Twilight Zone Marathon to look forward to! In fact starting at 7:30pm tonight you can catch six excellent episodes in a row [“The Shelter”, “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”, “The Fear”, “To Serve Man”, “The Invaders” and “Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up”.]
Have a relaxing day, don’t eat to much BBQ and be careful with those fireworks!
TVGuide.com posted a list of the All Time Top Cult Shows. And while I’ve got to admit that there were many on the list that I’ve never watched, there were more than a few that brought back fond memories. So, using just their choices, here’s my list of my top ten favorite “cult” shows:
