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.
Read more!

TV Death Watch

Pushing Daisies is all but dead, and don't look for Ned to revive it. ABC announced Thursday that the show, along with Dirty Sexy Money and Eli Stone, won't be shooting any more episodes. While short of an official cancellation, it's unlikely any will return once they're done airing the shows that have already been shot. Life on Mars, meanwhile, got picked up for more shows and will follow Lost on Wednesdays starting Jan. 28, after a monthlong hiatus starting in December. And ABC also announced the return(?) of Scrubs to its new network on Jan. 6.

Too bad about Pushing Daisies, but the writers strike last year really killed it just as it was gaining momentum. And the second season just never recaptured the quirky, goofy, original feel. Instead it began to feel schmaltzy and repetitive. Word on the street is that the final episode to air was written to serve as a series finale, so loyal viewers might get some sense of closure. That'll air on Dec. 10 (I think).

I've cooled a bit on Life on Mars. If I'm home and bored, I'll watch it, but I have a couple episodes sitting unwatched on my DVR. It's slower-moving in terms of the overall plot arc than the BBC original, and much less compelling. But it'll be a good match with Lost, especially if they start focusing on the mystery behind Sam's time travel.
Read more!

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).
Read more!

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.
Read more!