The Girls of Friday

If you haven't caught an episode of CBS' 8pm Friday night success Joan of Arcadia, it's not too late to dive into the story. Even if you're not someone who enjoys most family-oriented shows, JoA has enough offbeat appeal to break through the genre conventions to become its own unique experience. Although because of its underlying spiritual foundation it's destined to be embraced by America's religious mainstream, it's also a show that we oddballs and agnostics can enjoy, too. Nobody in Joan's family is particularly normal, certainly not her brothers, one a super-brain, one disabled; nor are her acquaintances cut from the don't-rock-the-boat middle ground. Last week we were introduced to a stoner dude who's not really a druggie, but an inspired metal sculpturist, and a super-butch gal pal who's a chronic but brilliant underachiever. Yes, these characters are stereotypes of a sort, too -- the not-what-they-seem wierdos -- but at least they're interesting, more than a little misanthropic, and watchable.

The show is intriguing, impossibly and irresistibly so. Watch it.

I'm not as sure about Miss Match at 9pm on NBC, though Alicia Silverstone's a cutie. The show is shallow...oh so shallow...but somewhere underneath the glitzy trappings and completely cliched plotting there beats a heart, and it's a good one. With anyone less adept at projecting a nuturing spirit, this show would be completely phony. Somehow though, Ms. Silverstone manages, despite the over-privileged setting of the show, to hook into some essential decency and salvage things, just as she did in the movie Clueless. Miss Match is a fairy tale, no doubt, but sometimes even far-fetched tales of beautiful people can contain some truth.

 
Garner-ing 8 Simple Rules

In a move that makes a lot of sense if you're trying to keep America in love with a show that just lost a favorite performer, ABC's adding veteran James Garner to the cast of 8 Simple Rules. His role -- at least in four episodes so far -- will be that of Katey Sagal's father, newly-separated from his wife, who comes to help the family cope with his son-in-law's death. The mother will be played by Suzanne Pleshette, in, at this point, the first new episode. The general long-standing TV appeal of Garner would seem to be a perfect fit for this show that must find a way to keep, at least nominally, the good-natured spirit of John Ritter alive. What better way than to enlist another audience fave, one who can play comedy as well as drama with equal finesse, to help 8 Simple Rules makes the transition to whatever it's destined to become in its new incarnation.

I, of course, was rooting for one of my personal favorite actresses, Mariette Hartley, to get the gig as the ex-Mrs. Garner, bringing up amusing recollections of their famous 1970s Polaroid commercials which made people think they were married in real life. For 8 Simple Rules, the ages wouldn't have been exactly right, though; Garner was born in 1928, Ms. Pleshette in 1937, and Mariette in 1940. Katey Sagal was born in 1954, so it's probably more realistic for Suzanne to play her mother, though not by much. I guess we're just lucky to have any mature performers on TV at all; I'm still disappointed that ABC disappeared Harve Presnell out of the cast of Hope & Faith in the role of the sisters' spry father. He could have given that ultra-silly show a little class.

 
Catch 'Em While You Can

I'll put in yet another good word for UPN's 9pm show tonight Jake 2.0; it may be just a matter of time before the network does some major work on their Wednesday night line-up, and Jake could vanish. Neither Enterprise -- despite the crew's new ass-kicking mission -- nor Jake 2.0 -- a fast-paced, extremely enjoyable spy nerd adventure -- is making any headway with viewers. Tonight's not going to be any fair test either, with a major baseball game as competition, but I'm rooting for both of them to shake off their ratings malaise. The Jake 2.0 episode looks particularly fun, with Jake getting stalked by assassins when he goes to a pal's wedding. I just love Christopher Gorham in the title role; he's my favorite TV geek this season.

And at 10pm, two of the major nets are having the expected hard time beating down NBC's Law & Order bludgeon. CBS has the worst troubles, with its The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H. really going down for the count. Nobody much seems to like this show, but I don't think David Kelley has anything to apologize for. TBoPNH is an intriguing drama with an especially strong female cast, and they're worth the price of admission. How often do you get to watch somebody as quietly terrific as Mare Winningham do her stuff?

ABC's classy crime drama Karen Sisco is also getting punched out by L&O; despite a good review in next week's TV Guide, it's looking like the 10pm audience just isn't in the mood to look for anything different, not even something with as many entertaining elements as KS. As if the great ladies on CBS at 10pm aren't enough, Carlo Gugino as the titular Ms. Sisco is a knockout, in all sorts of ways. These two shows are being robbed, I tell ya!

 
NBC's Thursday Night Woes

In news that shows just how concerned NBC is with what's happening on Thursdays, they've decided to slip a Whoopi episode into this week's 9:30pm Coupling slot. Coupling is already out on the 30th to make way for swollen eps of their other Thursday shows, and don't be surprised if the network kicks it out on more November sweep dates.

As we know, Whoopi, NBC's Tuesday 8pm entry, has suffered from the intense viewer response to 8 Simple Rules resulting from John Ritter's death. Though NBC has already announced some November sweep pre-empts for it on Tuesday, this experimentation in the crucial Thursday slot does indicate real network support. What will happen with Coupling is more problematic. Is it just not up to the rigors of Thursday, or is it a failed effort entirely?

Although I'm not sure when we'll see them, there are U.S. Coupling episodes which aren't carbon copies of those done in the UK, and one wonders if these originals, as it were, might be able to achieve a unique comic tone that won't suffer in comparison to the British segments. The bar was set impossibly high for Coupling from the very beginning; media backlash and skepticism engendered by NBC's boasting about the sexy content and ooh-la-la naughtiness didn't help the show's reception at all, and it may be coming back to bite NBC in the arse.

 
Try Out Threat Matrix This Monday

ABC's struggling adventure drama series Threat Matrix, which I wrote about on Friday 10/10, is being given a gesture of support by the network. They're going to run an episode of TM at 8pm on the next two Mondays (except if you're in Atlanta, like I am, tonight's ep is scheduled to air Wed. at 2:05am!?), which should help the show get some sampling from viewers who are probably totally unaware of its existence on Thursday nights.

One assumes they're doing it because they believe the show has a chance and are dismayed to see it being pounded into oblivion in one of the toughest time periods of the entire week. That's the way I feel about it, and I recommend this series to anybody who can't wait until 24 returns later this month with a story arc concerning biological contagion. That's the same kind of stuff that the TM bunch are up to their ears in, along with a long list of other blood-curdling perils. Threat Matrix may not come up to the level of art that is 24, but it gets the job done, and how. It definitely deserves more than a fair chance to find an audience.

 
Don't Be Late to The Office

If you're a fan of the BBC America comedy The Office, you're probably aware -- and mighty excited -- that Season 2 of this bitter cult comedy favorite begins tonight at 9pm. If you haven't caught up with this mordant masterpiece yet, it's never too late. The DVD of Season 1's six episodes has just come out, but even if you're coming into Season 2 cold, you'll still easily get caught up in The Office's dead-on skewering of business-as-usual in a suburban UK paper supply firm.

I wrote about The Office back in March; here's the link to my review on March 8th. The show now seems to be finally catching on with a wider circle of admirers, and that's nothing but good news for BBC America and for NBC who will soon be working on their own version of the UK hit. Those of us who love Brit comedy are already reeling a bit from their not-100%-satisfying job with Coupling and announced plans to do the same with the insanely delightful Father Ted, so forgive me if I say right now that you'll probably be much happier catching the original The Office on BBC America.

The Office Season 2 begins airing tonight at 9pm on BBC America, with encores at 12mid, 1:20a, 3:20a, and 4:20a, plus more encores on Friday night. Check out their The Office website for lots of series background information, great clips, and the full schedule.