Well, he knows how to sell product...

Stringer Bell is coming to The Office. Idris Elba, who memorably played entrepreneurial drug-gang money man Stringer Bell on The Wire, will guest star in six episodes as Michael Scott's new nemesis. Can't wait for this. Especially if he mentions his previous position as assistant regional manager in Baltimore or something like that. The paper industry seems a step down and slightly less lucrative for him than the heroin trade, but he'll probably end up a lot less bullet-riddled.
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Cool random show of the day

Remember Tattooine, Luke Skywalker's home planet in Star Wars? Oceans of sand with mile-high dunes, broken up by jumbles of rugged, rocky terrain? Well imagine racing across that in a car, motorcycle or souped-up truck. That's the 2009 Dakar Rally.

Originally billed as the Paris-to-Dakar Rally, the annual off-road race through the deserts of western Africa has been plagued in recent years by attacks and threats of attacks by Islamic militants and run-of-the-mill bandits (much like how the Sandpeople terrorized Tattooine). So this year the race got moved to South America, to the pampas and deserts of Chile and Argentina.

Versus has been showing half-hour Dakar highlights (3 p.m and again at 6:30 or 7:30 p.m. --it changes day to day -- through Jan. 18), and it's pretty incredible to watch, especially in HD. The spectacular barren landscape of the Atacama Desert, mountainous dunes, jagged rock flats and one of the most intense, extreme race in the world -- it's pretty impressive.

I have no idea who any of the racers are (except for IndyCar and NASCAR veteran Robby Gordon), how they follow the course or what the strategy is -- I just like watching the off-road vehicles spray huge geysers of sand as they fly over sand dunes.

Check it out ASAP -- the race ends in a few days, and they'll be out of the desert and hitting the mountains tomorrow, I think.
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The Boys of January

With spring training a mere five weeks away, it's time to start gearing up for baseball. And one way to do that is to tune in to the new MLB Network. It debuted Jan. 1 and is available on most digital cable systems (though sorry, Dish Network, not yours). It'll show a truckful of World Baseball Classic games in March, and regular Thursday night games throughout the season. But until the season starts, it's a struggle to find enough programming to fill 24 hours. But that can be good for viewers.

The broadcast schedule now consists of reruns of recent postseason games (for you Phillies fans), in-studio analysis shows and classic games. This morning's Hot Stove show featured a fascinating interview with recent Hall-of-Fame inductee Rickey Henderson explaining his base-stealing tricks to Barry Larkin and Harold Reynolds, himself a pretty decent base-stealer in his day. It was a terrific bit of insight into one of the game's greatest players, explaining how he'd focus soley on the movement of the pitcher's elbows before stealing third, and that he started sliding head-first because he was hurting his legs too much sliding feet-first. Considering all the stories about Rickey being a semi-literate space cadet, it's nice to see him show what an intelligent player he really was.

That was followed by a replay of Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series (which I'm watching right now -- Mickey Mantle just got the first hit of the game, a home run in the fourth). The game hasn't been shown in its entirety since '56, and this the type of gem where MLB Network could excel. The league owns the network, and controls a vast vault of historic games and documentaries. The game broadcast is refreshingly stripped down -- black and white, two camera angles, no instant replay, no crowd shots, barebones graphics, and an amazing 15 Hall of Famers taking part in one of the greatest performances in baseball history. Mel Allen and Vin Scully do the play-by-play, Allen doing the first half alone in the booth, Scully taking over for him in the bottom of the fifth. I've gotta say, it's a whole lot of fun to watch a World Series game from a 1956 perspective (A day game . . . no shots of celebrities in the crowd . . . no Tim McCarver . . . and lots of classic Gilette commercials). One interesting thing Mel Allen pointed out -- the Yankees removed the batter's eye in center field for that game to squeeze more fans into the park, making it tougher for hitters to see the pitch. And through five innings, there's only been one hit in the game -- Sal Maglie has matched Larsen almost pitch for pitch. Huh, I never knew that.

Figuring out programming can be a challenge (try the online schedule) since -- on my Comcast TV Guide at least -- it says simply "MLB Network" instead of breaking down individual shows. But hopefully that'll change soon. This is a network that could very easily find itself being my default channel of choice.

Ooooh, Mantle just made a great catch to rob a triple in Death Valley and keep the perfect game going.

See what I mean?
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Comings and goings

Fox announced Tuesday that Prison Break is coming to an end after four seasons. The show, which went on hiatus in December, will return April 17 with about a half-dozen episodes to wrap things up. I never got into it -- I got my fill of labrynthine plot twists and implausible action from 24 for too many years -- but it's nice they'll get a chance to shoot an actual series finale.

Life on Mars is getting a spinoff series on BBC America. Ashes to Ashes premieres March 7, and will feature a modern-day female cop who gets shot and transported back to 1981, where she meets Detective Chief Inspector Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister), who was similarly-transported Detective Sam Tyler's boss in 1974. Two unrelated people bounced back in time due to a catastrophic injury? Sounds like a bit of a stretch, but it stars Keeley Hawes (who was great as Zoe in MI-5) and coming from the Life on Mars creators, it might be worth a shot. Oh, and of course, Ashes to Ashes is the title of an obscure David Bowie song, just like Life on Mars. Hmmm, maybe Bowie's behind the time-travelling. He always seemed inter-dimensional.

Speaking of Mars, seems like half the cast of Veronica Mars will be reuniting in creator Rob Thomas' new show, Party Down, on Starz. The comedy, about L.A. caterers who really want to be actors, premieres March 20. It'll star Ken Marino (slimy P.I. Vinnie Van Lowe), Adam Scott (creepy teacher Mr. Rooks), Jane Lynch (?) and Ryan Hansen (the immortal Dick Casablancas), with Enrico Colantoni (Keith Mars) and Ed Begley Jr. (Dean O'Dell) appearing as guest stars. And rumor has it Kristen Bell wants to do a guest appearance as well.
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American cheese

OK, so maybe I'll admit to belting out a Kelly Clarkson song or two with the radio as I sped across pastureland in Iceland a few years back (long story). But that doesn't mean I'll be tuning in to American Idol tonight. But half of the country will be.

The ratings juggernaut returns to Fox for an eighth season, and this season will have a few changes in order to spice things up. Most noticeably, a fourth judge has been added: Grammy-nominated (Oooh, Freudian slip -- I originally typed "Granny") songwriter/producer Kara DioGuardi. Apparently the British version has four judges, so the show is sort of returning to its roots. The ever-acerbic Simon Cowell will take a back seat and be used when needed as a tiebreaking vote. They'll also show less of the trainwreck auditions and bring more semifinalists to Hollywood.

Yawn. Whatever. Regardless of the changes, the show will still run its generic, cheesetastic pop machine roughshod over America, further eroding a once great musical culture. In protest, I'll be listening to some old Replacements albums.

But for any Idol worshippers out there, here's a link you might want to check out. My colleague, assistant sports editor and senior old-person music editor Bill Pinella, will be blogging about his love affair with the show. I'm sure it'll be special.

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Starting all over again

This post comes about a week late, but if you haven't noticed yet, TV's midseason relaunch is in full swing.

Scrubs came back last Tuesday on a new network (ABC). It's been fun to watch this show mature (though I don't know it mature is the right word to use in this case). I've always been a believer that less is more when it comes to this show, and I hope they tone down the ridonkulousness level. Last week was encouraging, especially the second episode centered around the dying patient. That mix of humor and poignancy is what has made Scrubs great in the past.

Nip/Tuck was also back last week, but come on, is anyone still watching this show? It went over the edge loooooong ago. Have they tried a head transplant yet? If not, they I predict one this season.

Last Wednesday saw the Season 2 premiere of Damages. Sure, Season 1 took ridiculous twists and turns, but it has arguably the best cast on television (Emmys for Glen Close and Zelko Ivanek), especially now with the addition of Oscar-winners William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden as well as Deadwood's top scowler, Timothy Oliphant. Throw in Rose Byrne and a career perfomance from Ted Danson and you've got magic. This season promises to be no less convoluted and suspenseful, and I'll be watching every minute.

Damages has a lot of company on Wednesdays though, with Top Scallop -- errr, Top Chef (sorry, Jamie, but Fabio hit that nail on the head) -- and Lost, which returns next week.

24 kicked off a the latest longest day of Jack Bauer's life last night, but I just can't do it. Sloppy writing, poor planning on story arcs and characters acting totally out of character ruined this show long ago. If this season turns out to be any good, I'll just catch up on the DVDs later.

The final season of Battlestar Galactica starts Friday night, with the human and Cylon survivors trying to make sense of the post-apocalyptic wasteland that was once called Earth. And who's the final Cylon? All will be revealed, they promise. And rumor has it the Final One will be revealed sooner rather than later.

Also coming Friday is Season 3 of Friday Night Lights on NBC, just as the season's original run on DirecTV ends. I'm watching Season 1 now on Netflix, and I'm loving this show. How I managed to miss it until now baffles me, but it's definitely worth watching

Season 2 of Flight of the Conchords begins Sunday, and New Zealand's fourth most-popular folk/comedy band will release new songs from the shows every Monday in iTunes. That'll be nice for when you have a song like "Hiphopapotamus vs. Rhymenocerous" stuck in your head. Sadly, this might be the Conchords' last season. Apparently it isn't easy to write an original musical comedy series. And -- say it ain't so! -- the first episode deals with the band firing their hapless manager, Murray.

In a departure from its usual summer airing, Burn Notice is back next Thursday. Breezy, action-packed and smart, this show really deserves a bigger audience. Hopefully the sight of tropical Miami will draw in some snowbound viewers.

There's also a handful of new reality shows, but I'll get to those in a future post. Stay tuned.
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Something smells fishy at Food Network

Food Network is rolling out a new batch of shows, and they look very . . . familiar. Seems they've been bitten by the copycat bug. Don't believe me? Check these out:

There's a lot of hype for Chopped. Ted Allen's new show looks remarkably similar to Bravo's Top Chef, which -- coincidentally I'm sure -- he helped judge until last year. The premise looks like a mix of Top Chef -- putting up-and-coming chefs in pressure situations -- meets Iron Chef -- where they make a surprise dish. I liked Allen in his Top Chef role, but his first Food Network show, Food Detectives, is overly simplistic and uninteresting. Not to mention a rip-off of equal parts Alton Brown's Good Eats and Discovery Channel's Mythbusters. Well, minus the fun and interesting parts.

Then there's the new Will Work for Food, starring Next Food Network Star (now there's a self-fulfilling prophecy) Adam Gertler. Every week Gertler will go behind the scenes and risk life, limb and dignity at countless food jobs that the average person takes for granted -- from gathering honey from bees to digging a wine cave. Sounds like a great idea and a fun show. Too bad Mike Rowe has already been doing that for years on Discovery's Dirty Jobs.

New York Magazine illustration

Ultimate Recipe Showdown is back for a second season and hey, newest Iron Chef Michael Symon is on the judging panel! Oh wait, no, that's . . . Michael Psilakis. You can understand the confusion though, as Psilakis could be Symon's doppleganger. They're both tall, bald, have hip facial hair, archy eyebrowns, Greek . . . Here's the giveway -- Symon has the soul patch on the front of his chin. Psilakis' soul patch is on the bottom of his chin. It's enough to sucker in viewers who are casual Symon fans who don't know any better. The show, meanwhile, is more or less Top Chef with amateurs.

Come on, Food Network, is this really the best you can do? Pretty sad state of affairs for a once fairly interesting network. I suppose it could be worse -- we could be subjected to 24 hours of all-Guy Fieri.
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