Weblog
03/18/07 03:42 AM: Spring TV Round-Up
This is a bit different, a non music or tech related post. I’m sure you won’t mind too much.
Last fall I decided to sign up for TiVo service, after not having cable for a few months. I had tried to set up an over-the-air antenna to receive HDTV, unfortunately I live on the wrong side of the 8th floor, and reception was near impossible. I was able to receive CBS, so long as I dangled the antenna out the window. So I caved, and have a TiVo hooked up to basic analog cable.
To get to the point, TiVo did have an impact on how I watch TV. When I lived in Arlington, and in my previous DC apartment, I went for the Comcast all-digital snazzy package that came with an HDTV DVR. It was a Motorola box, and I must tell you it was awful. The user interface was terrible, their version of “season pass” was unreliable, and as such I rarely used the functionality. It also came with a $120/mo price tag for Internet+TV. I could simply not justify paying that much money to watch television.
So now I watch a few shows, which the TiVo dutifully records. I thought I’d take a moment to discuss two of the network primetime shows I am excited about.
I would easily say that Jericho has become my favorite television show. It won me over because it deals with one of my favorite genres of science fiction/fiction, nuclear war/post-apocalyptic. Jericho airs Wednesdays on CBS at 8PM EST.
Yeah, check out that graphic, isn’t Skeet Ulrich a dreamboat? Seeing how this is a show I enjoy, I am hoping that the presence of Mr. Ulrich (as the shows star, Jake Green) will attract a large enough teenage girl crowd to keep the show viable. Most shows I enjoy are canceled within the first 2-3 episodes, so it’s been nice to see Jericho will at least enjoy an entire first season. I’ve heard it’s ratings lately have been poorer as of late, though (it returned from hiatus in February). I don’t understand why networks do this, take a popular show off the air for a few months, and wonder why it has bad ratings when it returns opposite American Idol.
Jericho takes place in, of all places, the fictional Jericho, Kansas, after terrorists detonated 20-kiloton nuclear weapons in most major cities in the U.S. It follows how one town copes, as well as giving clues as to how and why the attack happened. I am hoping it will be renewed for next year, as it seems CBS is seriously lacking in the decent prime time drama department. Jericho and NCIS, however, make for a decent showing.
Next up is Raines, starring Jeff Goldblum. I love Jeff Goldblum, and will forever be quoting “That’s when you take them out … take them down … do your thing” from Independence Day. Goldblum stars as Detective Raines, a man who “sees” the victims of the crimes he investigates. So far only the Pilot has aired, but it seems to have some potential. It’s not as goofy as Monk, but not as gritty or serious as Law and Order. This could gather a following among people who enjoyed shows such as Diagnosis Murder, or many of those other mid-to-late 90’s crime shows that peaked before the age of CSI. I’d predict it’s largest audience would be older, 40-50 year olds, simply based on the types of shows my family watches.
Raines airs Thursdays on NBC at 10 PM EST.
