Thurs, Mar 6th, 2008
07:00 Flight Of The Conchords
07:30 CSI
08:30 House
09:30 NCIS
10:30 Out Of Practice
11:00 New Amsterdam
12:00 Stingray
01:00 Lost
Flight Of The Concords. Episode 1. Very funny. We meet two guys from New Zealand (Jemaine Clement, Bret McKenzie) who have a band, a really bad manager (Rhys Darby) and a crazy fan (Kristen Schaal). This first story shows us what happens when one of the guys starts to date the ex-girlfriend of the other guy. There are several musical numbers, done as fantasy sequences, and there are a lot of laughs. Good show.
CSI. Season 5, Episode 20. Paul Guilfoyle owns the screen when Brass goes to LA on the trail of his daughter's friend. Guilfoyle is superb, as Brass sees up close the life his daughter has chosen for herself. It's a painful story. Literally. Watching a father watch his daughter in these circumstances is hard to, well, watch. And, while the crime-of-the-week aspects of the episode are predictable and flawed, the human-element is pitch perfect. The performances are pitch perfect. You never feel like this is something you have seen on TV before. You feel that it is real. If Guilfoyle ever gets a spin-off, I'll watch it. Especially if Donna Murphy is in it, she makes a great partner for Brass.
House. Episode 4. Grim outing for Dr. Greg and the team. Babies are very sick. One baby dies halfway through the episode, and since we've gotten to know the parents at this stage it's a death that is not easy to watch. A lot of this episode is about the character of Cameron, as we see that she is too soft and makes mistakes (her handling of the parents, for instance). Wilson, too, is soft. Covering for Cameron with the bereaved parents. And House, of course, goes after both of them. Particularly Cameron. He is horrible to her at the very end. It's a good episode. There's a crisis, and we get to see all the regulars gathered around the whiteboard trying to figure out what is going on. Cuddy gets a lot of screentime in this one, and House gives us a pretty succinct description of her character.
NCIS. Season 4, Episode 12. The team investigates a murder in a small town. McGee seems to like a very cute small town girl (who ends up solving the case for them) and - in the episodes shocking final seconds - we learn that somebody is tailing Tony and his new girlfriend. Frak! Frak! Frak!
Out Of Practice. Episode 15. Constance Zimmer and Stephanie Lemelin in the same episode! Cool. Two of my favourite actresses in one show. I love when that happens. Lemelin plays the girl who moves in next door. Ben's interfering family try to set him up with her. Repeatedly. Meanwhile his ex-wife (Zimmer) is back in town, and staying at Ben's place. Ben tries to keep this a secret from his family which leads to lots of running around, confusion and whatnot. It's a funny episode, and ends with a great character moment for the usually-weak Ben.
New Amsterdam. Episode 1 has a lot of scenes that weren't in the original pilot. And some are missing (including two I really liked). And they have changed the order of things, too. Hmm. It's still a good pilot. Very epic and romantic. And, if you can get past the idea that a cop can drop dead without being identified (and later leave a hospital completely un-noticed!!) then it's a ride worth taking.
Stingray. Season 2, Episode 5. Stephen J. Cannell's stylish action show from the '80s delivers another classy episode. Samantha Eggar is receiving death threats. It's not hard for the viewer to guess who is responsible. But the joy in this show is the style with which the tell each story. Lots of silent action, fast cuts in the editing and thoughful looks from series star Nick Mancuso. This time out the quick cuts in the editing are left out and the soundtrack is all classical music (instead of the usual electronic fare). And there is lots of it. Not much dialogue, but lots of classical music and endless close-ups on statues and disfigured gargoyle faces. Mancuso underplays everything (even the fight scenes, I think) and the final scene, between him and Eggar, is superb. I don't think TV ever delivered a cooler hero.
Lost. Missing Pieces 2. We get to see what Hurley was doing just before his "date" with Libby. Not much.
Highlight? Stingray.
Flight Of The Conchords, CSI, House, NCIS, Out Of Practice, New Amsterdam, Stingray, Lost
