Tuesday, September 25h, 2007
06:30 My Boys
07:00 The Closer
08:00 Rules Of Engagement
09:00 Friday Night Lights
10:00 Californication
11:30 Prison Break
My Boys. Episode 17. Seventeen episodes and this brilliant sit-com has stayed true to it's central concept. It's about a girl in the middle of group of male friends and they meet every week for poker. This episode's opening minutes were devoted to the gang arriving for the poker game and the banter, back and forth, was hilarious. They discovered that one of the Boys was actually rich and never told them. In fact, all of the plots were about money/wealth in one form or another. I notice the show is getting more continuity-heavy as it goes on, and that is fine with me.
The Closer. Season 3, Episode 11. Her parents are gone home, Brenda is out of hospital and back on the job with the best dressed cops on TV. A murdered woman turns out to have connections with their own department. And she was having an affair with Brenda's boss (who is also Brenda's ex-lover)! Best scene? Brenda asks Pope to describe the dead woman during an intense exchange. His description, of course, is for a woman exactly like Brenda, and there are tears in her eyes as she listens. A highpoint of a typically strong episode.
Rule Of Engagement. Season 2, Episode 1. I watch this for Patrick Warburton. Only he could carry it off. The format requires his character to be stubborn every week, refuse to go along with whatever his wife wants, make a fool of himself, and eventually cave in at the very end. It's as repeditive as House, but Warburton makes it work by not coming across as a jerk, no matter how mean he is with his wife. In this episode, he won't go for surgery to get his snoring sorted. It's not brain surgery, but it makes me laugh out loud.
Friday Night Lights. Episode 15. When writing about Gossip Girl (yuck) the other day, I totally forgot to mention the best teen drama on TV: Friday Night Lights. Of course, it's not slick like Greek or Hidden Palms, it's style is more along the lines of Homicide: Life On The Street, or Tell Me You Love Me, but it is predominantly about teenagers and their problems. And, as everyone who writes about it will tell you, it is utterly brilliant. This 15th episode was about race problems in town, augmented by comments made by one of the coaches. Best Scene? Coach and his wife talk when she returns home, dejected from her failed attempt to solve the issue.
Californication. Episode 5. Hank's relationship finally comes to an end. He took something she said in private, used it as part of a radio interview (a tirade against the internet) and she went ballistic. Of course, there was something else going on, too. As we learn learn more about Hank, we find that he is not quite the ass we saw in the pilot. He gets more likable, and the show gets better.
Prison Break. Season 3, Episode 2. Another great outing from this show that bears only a passing resemblence to the Prison Break of old. Lots more running around in the dirt/filth in this episode. Some political lines were formed/strengthened, and Michael showed us all at home - once again - what a clever hero his is. Great fun.
Best show? Closer.
My Boys, The Closer, Rules Of Engagement, Friday Night Lights, Californication, Prison Break
