Summer 2007 -- Is there ANYTHING on?

[maggiethecat]

I thought I'd start a general discussion thread about the summer offerings with the answer to the above question . . .

. . . yes! Not a lot, but there are a couple of goodies out there worth watching, and at the top of the list -- as of last night -- is Saving Grace. (Mondays at 10:00 p.m. EST on TNT.)

I don't want to say too much about the show, as I don't want to be a spoiler for those of you who may of taped or Tivo'd it and have not yet watched. I will say that not since Blind Justice have I seen a Pilot that crammed as much into one hour. Although the two shows have basically nothing in common in terms of content or aesthetic, again, we have a slightly quirky premise that, because of a strong lead, tight ensemble acting, and some absolutely terrific writing . . . works. By the time we'd hit the first commercial break I was mentally predicting Holly Hunter as next year's Emmy-winner.

I hope some of you out there gave it a try -- I am dying to talk about it! TNT is rerunning it on Thursday at 11:00 p.m., by the way.

Tonight? Damages, with Glenn Close as an evil lawyer and Ted Danson as the evil client. On FX at 10:00 EST.

Thank heavens for the cable channels who put on actual content in the summer so we don't have to watch reruns (of shows that were lousy the first time) or sink into the Slough of Despond, a.k.a "reality programming."

[Deleted]

maggiethecat said:

I thought I'd start a general discussion thread about the summer offerings with the answer to the above question . . .

. . . yes! Not a lot, but there are a couple of goodies out there worth watching, and at the top of the list -- as of last night -- is Saving Grace. (Mondays at 10:00 p.m. EST on TNT.)

I don't want to say too much about the show, as I don't want to be a spoiler for those of you who may of taped or Tivo'd it and have not yet watched. I will say that not since Blind Justice have I seen a Pilot that crammed as much into one hour. Although the two shows have basically nothing in common in terms of content or aesthetic, again, we have a slightly quirky premise that, because of a strong lead, tight ensemble acting, and some absolutely terrific writing . . . works. By the time we'd hit the first commercial break I was mentally predicting Holly Hunter as next year's Emmy-winner.

I hope some of you out there gave it a try -- I am dying to talk about it! TNT is rerunning it on Thursday at 11:00 p.m., by the way.

Tonight? Damages, with Glenn Close as an evil lawyer and Ted Danson as the evil client. On FX at 10:00 EST.

Thank heavens for the cable channels who put on actual content in the summer so we don't have to watch reruns (of shows that were lousy the first time) or sink into the Slough of Despond, a.k.a "reality programming."

Thank God, because so far - ziltch!

[maggiethecat]

Well, here's a surprise. Damages, which premiered last night on F/X, and which I'd been looking forward to all summer, was . . . not wonderful. Even with the likes of Glenn Close, Ted Danson, Philip Bosco, and Zjelko Ivanek, who for some reason has been lumbered with an over-the-top Southrn accent. I think it's the writing, which hit me as a cliche-ridden collection of Evil Lawyer stereotypes.

Maybe I was just in a crabby mood -- who, me? -- and I will give it another try next week. But I think it's interesting that this show I expected to like and didn't, while Saving Grace, for which I had no high hopes, kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Go figure.

[mlm828]

For those who were watching The Nine before the show was unceremoniously dropped from the schedule, That Network will be showing the remaining unaired episodes, beginning Wednesday, August 1, at 10 p.m. ET. Unfortunately, it will be on at the same time as Rescue Me.

[rducasey]

maggiethecat said:

Well, here's a surprise. Damages, which premiered last night on F/X, and which I'd been looking forward to all summer, was . . . not wonderful. Even with the likes of Glenn Close, Ted Danson, Philip Bosco, and Zjelko Ivanek, who for some reason has been lumbered with an over-the-top Southrn accent. I think it's the writing, which hit me as a cliche-ridden collection of Evil Lawyer stereotypes.

Maybe I was just in a crabby mood -- who, me? -- and I will give it another try next week. But I think it's interesting that this show I expected to like and didn't, while Saving Grace, for which I had no high hopes, kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Go figure.

Oh I truely do want to watch some of these summer offerings, so I am going to go by your suggestion Maggie, and try to remember to watch Saving Grace. My problem is some are on too late, and I am already on the couch going z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z. So just when is Saving Grace on again, and where?

[maggiethecat]

mlm828 said:

That Network will be showing the remaining unaired episodes . . .

That Network? You mean those rotten stinkers who didn't know a class act when they saw it? Karma for the best laugh of the day, mlm.

And rducasey? Saving Grace will be rerun on Thursday night at 11:00 (on TNT), so you can tape it. ;D

[Deleted]

I give up with TV; I watch all Law and Order SVU. Wonder why Ron was never picked for that? Hmm....for God's sake, Marisol Nichols was an attorney, Brian F. O'Byrne (the original Fr. Flynn) was a psycho IRA killer, Adrian Lennox was a nurse......what gives?

[Katryna]

divinemrse said:

I give up with TV; I watch all Law and Order SVU. Wonder why Ron was never picked for that? Hmm....for God's sake, Marisol Nichols was an attorney, Brian F. O'Byrne (the original Fr. Flynn) was a psycho IRA killer, Adrian Lennox was a nurse......what gives?

And now I hear that Cherry Jones will be portraying the President of the US on 24 Season 7. Is EVERYONE working except.....

[bjobsessed]

kathy said:

divinemrse said:

I give up with TV; I watch all Law and Order SVU. Wonder why Ron was never picked for that? Hmm....for God's sake, Marisol Nichols was an attorney, Brian F. O'Byrne (the original Fr. Flynn) was a psycho IRA killer, Adrian Lennox was a nurse......what gives?

And now I hear that Cherry Jones will be portraying the President of the US on 24 Season 7. Is EVERYONE working except.....

Looks like it.

Maybe I'll try Saving Grace if I can get that channel. It sounds good. I have watched absolutely no new shows this summer at all. Nothing appeals to me at all.

[mlm828]

After reading this review of Burn Notice, I think I'll check it out. It's on the USA network at 10 p.m. this evening.

And I'll take a look at Saving Grace, too.

[shmeep]

My biggest summer joy is still Psych. Such fun.

Here's a paraphrase from Friday's episode:

Juliette: Lassitor is literally on fire.

Shawn: "Literally" like Michael Jackson in the Pepsi commercial or "literally" like you don't know what "literally" means?

Something about this show just tickles me whenever I watch it.

I think there's a lot on over the summer:

The Closer
The 4400
The Dead Zone
Hell's Kitchen (guilty pleasure...such fun!)
Rescue Me
Eureka
Psych
Monk (although the most recent one was dreadful!)

And Bones repeats. Those are just as much fun the second time around.

I'll look into the new shows too. My DVR is set.

[mlm828]

maggiethecat said:

. . . there are a couple of goodies out there worth watching, and at the top of the list -- as of last night -- is Saving Grace. (Mondays at 10:00 p.m. EST on TNT.)

I don't want to say too much about the show, as I don't want to be a spoiler for those of you who may of taped or Tivo'd it and have not yet watched. I will say that not since Blind Justice have I seen a Pilot that crammed as much into one hour. Although the two shows have basically nothing in common in terms of content or aesthetic, again, we have a slightly quirky premise that, because of a strong lead, tight ensemble acting, and some absolutely terrific writing . . . works. By the time we'd hit the first commercial break I was mentally predicting Holly Hunter as next year's Emmy-winner.

I hope some of you out there gave it a try -- I am dying to talk about it! TNT is rerunning it on Thursday at 11:00 p.m., by the way.

I taped the Pilot when it was shown again and watched it over the weekend, then watched Monday's episode. I like it, so far, although I'm still sorting out the various characters. "Earl" is my favorite, but I'm not sure whether he's supposed to be a "real" angel (I can't believe I just said that) or simply Grace's better nature/conscience manifesting itself. And if the show turns out to be the story of a flawed person's journey toward being a different person, it would have something in common with Blind Justice, wouldn't it?

On a shallower note, Kenny Johnson, who plays Grace's partner and lover, Ham, is quite easy on the eyes and reminds me, a little, of a certain other blond dude.

mlm828 said:

After reading this review of Burn Notice, I think I'll check it out.

I checked out Burn Notice. It was OK, nothing special.

[maggiethecat]

Damages surprised me last night in that, despite the somewhat obvious writing, the story is definitely drawing me in. Maybe it's just Glenn Close'e performance -- she is obviously having the time of her life, although I do wish they'd get her a better wardrobe (she really doesn't dress like a high-powered Manhattan lawyer). Ted Danson is very interesting as the villain, a multi-layered villain with a conscience.

I'm definitely in for the ride on this one.

Saving Grace wasn't as memorable this week, but I didn't expect it to be as amazing and jam-packed as The Pilot. The idea of a tobacco-juice spittin' angel is really a crack-up, however! And I very much like Laura San Giacomo as the Best Friend.

[doobrah]

Well, I'm getting tired of trying new shows and being disappointed.

I was looking forward to "Saving Grace" and know to expect graphic sex when I'm watching HBO. But not the very first scene on TNT. Yeah, Mags, they crammed a lot into one hour, but how many times does a viewer have to be knocked in the head to get the point that Grace is a mess? I liked her interactions with Laura SanGiacomo & the angel -- really cracklin' stuff. But not enough to make it must see TV. I skipped episode #2. Tell me it's not as raw as the pilot and I'll catch it on the rerun.

Same with "Burn Notice." First 10 minutes, great. Then they lost their way. Bor-ing. Click.

"Damages" -- pilot was a disappointment. Next...

"Mad Men" -- AMC. Period soapy-drama about advertising execs in the '60s. The gimmick is that it's overtly racist and sexist and everybody smokes. Wooh. Otherwise, bor-ing.

"Meadowlands" -Showtime. Nutjob English import. First couple of episodes were promising. Then it fell apart. I'm slogging through it just to see how it ends this week. But, oh, the humanity!

"Big Love" -- HBO. Took a while to get into, but it's a rollicking ride among the polygamists in Utah! All the characters are richly defined -- I like all the wives, and that makes their relationships as "sister wives" believable -- and even the bad guys have their good sides. It's all about the relationships in one particular family and their challenges of trying to live in town on the down low. It's a version of the Soprano without the guns, drugs, booze and swearing. The first season is now out on DVD.

"Shameless" -- Sundance Channel. Another Brit import with James McAvoy (the Scot doc from "Last King of Scotland"). It's a soapy comedy, about a family whose parents are out of it so the older kids try to make it on their own, to hilarious results. Thursdays at 11 pm. Rated R for language.

Doctor Who -- Sci-Fi Channel. Yeah, they litter this BBC series with commercials, but it's a guilty pleasure. One of the local channels when I was a kid showed the early (cheesy) Doctor Who episodes. And the new series are terrific. Not wild about the new chick though. Bring back Rose! She & David Tennant had the best chemistry! Friday's at 9pm.

[Chris]

The short answer to that question is NO!!!!

Here summer always means reruns of old shows and reruns of old movies, there is rarely anything new on.

I have enjoyed the reruns of Boston Legal, when it first aired I thought is was kind of stupid but when I saw it again, I found it to be quite humorous ;D

They have also begun the rerun of Rescue Me and since many of you seem to like it I have given it a chance. I have seem five episodes now, I think, and it doesn't really appeal to me.
Tommy is a bit annoying, I think, and as for the rest of the characters, I have a hard time figuring out who is who.
I'm going to watch one more episode tomorrow but I think that's it, I gave it a try, but it's not for me.

They are also rerunning Jeeves and Wooster I saw the first ep the other day. For the first five minutes and so, Wooster (Hugh Laurie) who is rather hung-over, doesn't speak at all, but his facial expressions says it all, hilarious!!!

Take care and keep smiling
- Chris