Flipping Channels

Quick hits, thoughts and news . . .

•TNT premiers its newest show, Leverage, at 10 p.m. Sunday (it'll then move to its regular time of 10 p.m. Tuesdays). Timothy Hutton (the guy who had the crush on a waaaay-too-young Natalie Portman in Beautiful Girls) stars as the ringleader of an Ocean's 11-type crew of con men who only rip off bad guys who deserve it. Sounds good, huh? Actually it was good, the first time I saw it . . . when it was a BBC show called Hustle. Though it doesn't bill itself as such, Leverage is just another Americanized version of a cool British show. Hustle is a stylish, breezy, caper show — similar to Burn Notice —well worth checking out. All four seasons are available on DVD, and you can catch reruns occasionally on AMC. It's almost certainly better than Leverage, and they speak with way cooler accents.

•The demise of Pushing Daisies may be good news for Heroes. But is it already too late? Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller is on the verge of signing a deal to return as an executive producer for Heroes, which he worked on in its brilliant first season. His return won't do much for the current season, which is already mostly written. But maybe he can help next season not suck so badly. The quickly sinking Heroes has already fired two co-executive producers this season, and it was only a month ago that Heroes creator Tim Kring called the show's remaining fans "saps and dipshits." It's not enough to draw back this sap, but the addition of Fuller sure can't make the show any worse.

•Sci Fi Channel this week green-lit 18 episodes of Caprica, a Battlestar Galactice prequel series. The two-hour pilot has been shot, and production on the season will start next summer. Look for the show sometime in 2010. And to quench your BSG thirst between the show's spring finale and Caprica, a standalone move called The Plan will be coming sometime in the interim. Modeled on last year's BSG standalone Razor, The Plan will focus on the Cylons' master plan and will take place between the series' first and second seasons. And starting Dec. 12, Scifi.com will roll out 12 webisodes leading up to BSG's premier on Jan. 16. Personal revelations regarding one character are promised.

•A pair of second-season premiere dates have been announced: The CW's the-devil-made-me-do-it-(no-for-real!) supernatural comedy Reaper will return on March 17, and HBO's Flight of the Conchords, following New Zealand's fourth-most popular comedy/folk band, is back Jan. 18. For a sneak peek at the entire Season 2 debut episode of Conchords, it'll be posted online at Funnyordie.com starting Dec. 17.
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Bye bye, Heroes

How far has Heroes fallen? It's being bumped tonight in favor of the consistently awful Saturday Night Live's "Presidential Bash" (I'm going to go out on a limb and predict they'll use the opportunity to showcase Tina Fey one last time). It's just as well -- the acting in Heroes would probably generate more comedy, though unintentional. I won't miss it -- I'm done with Heroes. As I've mentioned before, it's gotten too complicated and too stupid. And as Tim Goodman mentioned in a recent podcast, it hasn't even followed its own Bible of characters' powers and personalities. I give up.

In a related note, the show's two top writers were fired today. Co-executive producers Jeph Loeb and Jesse Alexander ran the show on a day-to-day basis, and “It’s understood that Alexander and Loeb were let go because of Peacock execs’ frustration with the creative direction of the show,” according to Monday's story in Variety.

Can't say that the firings weren't deserved. What was once one of the more creative, intriguing shows on TV has gone horribly, horribly awry. So my fanship is officially dead. And unlike a Petrelli family member, I won't be back.

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Pushing Daisies going six feet under?

Is now the time to give up on Pushing Daisies? It got trounced in the ratings last night by Barack Obama's infomercial (yet still received its highest ratings of the year). That can't be good. This season has been creatively stunted anyway, and the charm and quirkiness that made it such fun in its first season has somehow evaporated. The choice on whether or not to jump ship might not be entirely up to viewers -- the show's going to be pre-empted the next two weeks, scheduled to return Nov. 19. Production on the already-ordered batch of shows ends Nov. 12. ABC might just leave it at that and not restart production on new episodes. Anyone for more Dancing With the Stars?

Then there's Heroes. I'm about ready to quit. I love the addition of Robert Foerster, but how many power-suckers can there be? And god knows what the plot is anymore. Too many characters, too much time travel, too many visions, too many characters killed-no-wait-it-was-just-a-fakeout, too many characters acting out of character, too much overacting by Peter and too much lame Nikki/Tracy storyline (geez, why not just give her amnesia too?). I just don't care about any of them any more. Even Kristen Bell couldn't save this week's episode.

On the bright side, I may soon have an extra couple of free hours a week. Just in time for the new season of Top Chef (coming Nov. 12).
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Settle down . . .

Why haven't I been posting? I've been a little busy moving. Then there were some DSL problems. But I should be back to posting fairly regularly by the end of the week. So hang in there, all three of you loyal readers!

And just for a slight fix: I'm bummed that Team Geek got bounced from The Amazing Race (how galling that the smart team got burned by such a dumb mistake), I've come around and am fully onboard with Sons of Anarchy, I'm debating whether or not to drop Heroes from my lineup, and I'm wondering what the heck Don Draper is doing. Kath & Kim was awful, but Testees might have been even worse. And I have a whole mess of shows waiting for me on my DVR, including the premiere of Life on Mars.

So once I catch up with shows and finally get settled in, things will get back to normal.
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Heroes' Who's Who

Is Heroes a repository for actors from my favorite shows? Sometimes it seems that way. In addition to regulars Adrian Pasdar (awesomely evil in the brilliant-but-canceled Profit), Greg Grunberg (CIA agent Weiss in Alias) and Kristen Bell (the lovely and talented Veronica Mars), the show is ramping it up this season with the addition of Jamie Hector (at left, as chillingly creepy drug kingpin Marlo Stanfield from The Wire), fellow Wire alum Andre Royo (who played junkie Bubbles) and Francis Capra (delinquint biker Weevil on Veronica Mars).

Well played, casting agents. Now if only they can find a spot for Michael K. Williams. Come on, who wouldn't want to see Sylar face off with Omar on a dark street?
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A few of my favorite things

So what am I watching now? Not a lot, really. Generation Kill and My Boys (how's that for both ends of the spectrum?) are keeping me going through the summer. And their upcoming finales will provide a perfect segue into the Summer Olympics (I plan to watch all 40,000 hours, including live team table tennis between South Korea and Sri Lanka at 3 a.m. on a Tuesday) and the kickoff of the fall TV season in September. And I've got Season 1 of Dexter from Netflix, which I hope to get through in the next month. Oooh, can't forget Burn Notice. That's good breezy fun with lots of pretty explosions.

I'm actually excited for September. The writers strike wreaked havoc with last year's TV schedule, and a lot of my favorite shows ended way too early or were delayed way too long. Good lord, it's been almost a year since the last fresh episode of Entourage! So here's a look at what I'm looking forward to:

Can't wait for the debuts


1. The Shield (Sept. 2, FX) -- The end for Vic Mackey and crew? We've been waiting more than a year for that scheming turncoat Shane to get what's coming to him. You know this won't end well. I'm already tingling from the anticipation.
2. Entourage (Sept. 7, HBO) -- Last season was almost as bad as Medellin -- slow, bloated and feeling out of place. I have high hopes for a rebound. Sorry, but the boys aren't as fun when they have to work for their money. Give me bacchanal excess, infinity pools populated by models and Ari verbally bitch-slapping E during meetings at Koi.
3. Heroes (Sept. 22, NBC) -- It was just starting to regain its groove when the strike hit. The focus on villains should be beneficial to the show getting off to a fast start -- bad guys are always more interesting.
4. Amazing Race (Sept. 28, CBS) -- One season of arguably TV's best reality show (Top Chef might have a word to say about that) is already in the can and another is being shot as we speak. Rumored destinations for "TAR 13": Angor Wat, Cambodia and La Paz, Bolivia. Can't. Freakin. Wait.
5. Pushing Daisies (Oct. 1, ABC) -- The cynic in me thought the quirkiness would rub off. It didn't. Clever, sweet and downright nice. It's my TV sorbet, to cleanse the palate with goodness in a world filled with corrupt cops, evil super-dudes, and serial killers.
6. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Sept. 18, FX) -- Clever, cruel and completely un-nice, it's probably the funniest, most twisted show on TV. I love it.

Can't wait until midseason
1. Lost (Jan. 2009)
2. Battlestar Gallactica (early 2009)
3. Rescue Me (spring 2009)
4. Damages (early 2009)
5. Reaper (midseason replacement)
6. Flight of the Conchords (Jan. 2009)

Why I regret not having Showtime right now
1. Californication -- I finally caught up on DVD and I'm hooked. A dramedy that's actually dramatic and comedic? A show where the characters actually develop? Shocking! Of course, not as shocking as the Season 1 finale, which I'm praying was just a dream sequence.
2. Dexter -- I haven't even watched Season 1, but already I want to catch up to Season 3.
3. Weeds -- Sure, it's gone over the top and taken a sharp turn left, but it's still one of the more original shows around. At least it hasn't become a parody of itself like "Desperate Housewives" has.
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