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Channel Surfing ~ Tribune staffer Albert Ching meticulously planned out his prime time television watching schedule back in elementary school. This blog is the natural progression.

Archive for the 'reaper' Category

What’s on - ‘Dancing’ queen crowned, David battle on ‘Idol,’ more

Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 by Albert Ching

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Dancing with the Stars
8 p.m., ABC

Thinking Kristi Yamaguchi is unbeatable after two perfect scores last night? I wouldn’t be so sure - the way “Dancing with the Stars” scoring works (I’m pretty sure, at least), it doesn’t really matter that she got two 30s out of 30, just that she did better than second place Cristián de la Fuente, who got 52 out of 60. So if she has gotten anywhere between a 53 and a 60 (which she got), she would be in essentially the same position. And I can’t imagine voters turning out in droves for her, given that her dominance all season hasn’t exactly endeared the country, and men always do better on this show anyway (the only female winner, Kelly Monaco, was in the show’s nascent first season, and even that was disputed with a silly “dance off” between her and the guy that played Peterman on “Seinfeld”). I do think she’s going to come in second, though, with Jason Taylor probably being the second NFL star (after season three’s Emmitt Smith) to take it all, though I suppose I could see it going the other way without being too shocked, even though I think de la Fuente’s sympathy votes for his arm injury have to be about dried up and he doesn’t have nearly the same American fanbase. I’ve thought way too much about this.

cookhead.jpgAmerican Idol
7 p.m., Fox

Finalists David Cook and David Archuleta will sing songs picked by two ancient dudes - Andrew Lloyd Webber and Clive Davis. Though I was bummed last week about Syesha Mercado, who I thought was easily cooler and more marketable if not a better vocalists than these two dorks, getting eliminated, at least she won’t have to sing 90 seconds of whatever boring tunes those codgers unearth. David Cook will probably win tomorrow and go on to be Daughtry 2.0 (exactly what this world needs!) and maybe David Archuleta can do whatever a 17 year old with no discernible personality but a great voice can do, like go to Broadway as the world’s tiniest Danny Zuko.

samhead.jpgReaper
8 p.m., The CW

It’s the first season finale, but the show was renewed, which means it’ll be back midseason - January 2009 - and we won’t have to hear about what extraordinary yet misplaced efforts the show’s fans will go through to try and get it back on air (there’s a character named Sock! They could have mailed execs socks! Brilliant!). So, a victory all around, especially given the show’s clear handicap of being on The CW and not about fashionable young rich folks (and the failure of other genre shows this season, like “Bionic Woman” and the resurrected “Jericho”). Tonight’s episode involves demons setting a trap for Sam (Brett Harrison), which kind of sounds like every other episode, but surely there will be a twist of some manner.

sharkhead.jpgShark
9 p.m., CBS

Shark’s (James Woods) archenemy has broken out of jail! And he’s out for revenge on Shark! What is Shark gonna do? Shark! OK, I don’t know anything about this show. This is the second season finale, but in reality the series finale (since it wasn’t picked up), so it’s probably too late for me to learn about it. I know it has James Woods, and his name is Shark. But he’s not an actual shark, I’m pretty sure. Though that would be a bold choice. I think it’s actually just a nickname, which is disappointing, and further confirms my suspicions that I did the right move in skipping this show.

ALSO ON: Well, that’s about it. There’s the two hour fifth season finale of “NCIS” (7 p.m., CBS), a show, much like its military abbreviation predecessor “JAG,” keeps coming back year after year despite the fact that I’ve never encountered anyone who watches it.

Upfront week - ‘Miss Guided’ expelled; ‘Reaper’ benefits

Monday, May 12th, 2008 by Albert Ching

mgdet1.jpgMore news from upfront week - as predicted, “Miss Guided” has officially been yanked, according to the Los Angeles Times Show Tracker blog. This news comes before ABC’s upfront presentation tomorrow morning in New York City, and after E!’s Watch with Kristin got our hopes up this morning, saying the comedy was “likely to be picked up.”

“Miss Guided” was a good show in a very weak current sitcom climate, due in large part to the cast, especially Judy Greer and Chris Parnell, and it also seemed like a perfect show to pair with “Scrubs,” which Zach Braff confirmed on his Myreaperd.jpgSpace blog is going to ABC (which everyone already knew, but oddly enough, was subsequently deleted). With “Miss Guided” dismissed, and Braff’s comments that “Scrubs” is going to end in “the fall,” it seems that ABC might roll out the episodes two at a time, especially since they’ll be wrapped early (they’re filming the final season right now).

In happier news, “Reaper” has been renewed, albeit as a midseason replacement and only for 13 episodes. I watched the first couple episodes and then lost interest, but friends have been telling me it’s only gotten better, so hopefully they’ll be copious repeats over the summer to catch up on.

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