An End of the Week Worth Waiting For

Though it may turn out to be total shit, especially if the celebrities try to be funny, I love that Fox is trying to put a reality-TV spin on the 2003 Oscar-nominated doc Spellbound with their Great American Celebrity Spelling Bee, tonight at 8pm. Sixteen celebrities, divided into four teams, compete under the eye of host John Hurley, and honestly, doesn't this sound sillier and more exciting than watching people eat cow brains on Fear Factor? Maybe you have to be a word-lover to really get what's great about a spelling bee, but I applaud the idea and hope that Fox has some success with tonight and the next two installments, including the special two-hour finale on Friday 2/27. If you've been yearning to find out whether celebs like Corbin Bernsen (maybe he can't act, but perhaps he's a spelling wiz), Eric Roberts (who attended Georgia schools so may have a big disadvantage here), Alice Cooper, Brett Butler (she may have the same problem as Roberts), and other lesser-lights have any other talent besides semi-stardom, this might be the place to find out once and for all.

Also at 8pm, USA premieres its controversial -- not so much for content, but timing, certainly -- TV Movie The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story, which has already been dissed by the family of the deceased Laci. What you can't deny, besides the ethical considerations of airing a movie about a crime that has yet to be tried in court, is that Dean Cain has been made into a dead ringer for murder suspect Scott Peterson. This isn't an extreme makeover like Charlize Theron underwent for her portrayal of killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster -- just a little hair dye, looks like -- but no matter, Dean and Scott are practically twins, adding an extra-creepy element to the concept. I especially recommend visiting the Court TV Laci Peterson website for their trademark comprehensive and excellent coverage of the case, if you want to see how well USA's movie sticks to the facts. (If you're flummoxed, the picture on the left is Dean Cain, the other one is the real Scott Peterson.)

And don't forget about another 8pm entry, CBS' continuing success Joan of Arcadia, with a guest appearance by actor Russ Tamblyn, real-life father of Joan herself, the talented and appealing Amber Tamblyn. If you're not up on the fact that Russ was one of MGM's most talented (though probably under-used) singer/dancer actors back in the 1950s, surely you remember his performance as the half-man/half-shark Chocki in the cult comedy favorite Cabin Boy from 1994. Looks like it's time to break out the recorders tonight.

Later in the evening, USA premieres another new Monk episode at 10pm, and at the same time TCM runs one of my all-time movie favorites, the film that back in 1967 made me go to the movie theater again and again, and buy my first copy of Movies on TV and find all the Arthur Penn-directed movies I could, Bonnie and Clyde. Beautifully filmed by Burnett Guffey, every performance perfect, Bonnie and Clyde is as good as a classic western in defining a particular moment in America's past, and it's just as effective every time you watch it.



The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story airs tonight at 8pm on USA, with an encore tonight at 11pm. Visit the network's website for background info and a complete repeat schedule. Especially of interest is their page of links to various newspapers for Peterson coverage.


Really great website about Bonnie and Clyde -- somebody's a true fan!

 
Don't Miss Chris

Settle in tonight at 10pm for what looks to be a terrific episode of The Chris Isaak Show on Showtime. Gloria Estefan is the guest star, and if you've watched other series lamely try to shoehorn in celebrity appearances, you'll be thrilled to see that TCIS does it right. I used the Jack Benny analogy the other week in discussing how this season's overarching theme seems to be Chris' cheapness; though nobody here in the U.S. runs this genuine and timeless classic anymore (damn shame, the show's hilarious), guests are integrated into the TCIS plotlines in the same skillful way it was done on Benny's TV show. Visiting celebs both inhabit their images and spoof them at the same time; tonight Estefan gets Chris hooked on Cuban coffee and then tries to steal away his bandmembers.

Also, there's some interesting character development going on between Chris' manager Yola and her Richie Rich colleague and one time fling Cody, a reluctant softening that continues tonight as she gets him to take her place taking crazy Anson clothes shopping. The series has been wonderful so far this season, already announced to be the last -- bad news indeed -- so enjoy it while you can, 'cause you'll miss it when its gone. Just watch. I guarantee you'll come back for more. (For more praise, read my blog from January 8th of this year.)

Earlier in the evening at 8pm Tru Calling and star Eliza Dushku on Fox continue to face insane competition, and if you love an underdog that's the way to go. The show is pretty much full bore melodrama played out at a furious pace, but it has a breathless charm and intricate plotting that certainly isn't boring. Tonight there's some kind of Valentine's serial killer on the loose, so what's not to like? And now without Threat Matrix on ABC (more Extreme Makeover fills its slot), Tru Calling's a great way to opt out of the rest of the Thursday ratings melee. I realize that watching the least likely to succeed alternative is a bit of an ostrich maneuver, but the view from there is a lot better than what you'll see on top. IMHO, of course.


A new episode of The Chris Isaak Show premieres every Thursday night at 10pm on Showtime. Check out the website for more information, video previews, and a complete encore schedule.

Visit the Tru Calling site on Fox to catch up on past episodes.

 
Blah Sweeps If You're Not a Fan of Reality


And I'm not, so I'm not having a very good time this February. If that wasn't bad enough, several shows on my short list are either gone -- ABC's Karen Sisco -- or off for now and it's not looking so good for the future, either -- like UPN's Jake 2.0 and ABC's Threat Matrix. However, as I mourn my losses, Donald Trump fans are frolicking in clover; their demon god has not only been kicking corporate ass with The Apprentice on NBC so far this year, but has gotten the word that he'll be back next season. Oh, joy. And I almost forget -- the Hilton & Ritchie harridans will be back for more of The Simple Life. It just gets better....

I keep hoping the reality phase will peter out -- and of course it will someday, TV being cyclical if nothing else -- but until it does, some awfully good shows are being left in the gutter, and that's the real shame. Thank goodness Monk's on USA; if it were on one of the major networks, do you think it would have survived this long? Not a chance. NBC's Ed looks like it's made its final bow, despite being a constant critical and fan darling. And whither Alicia Silverstone and Miss Match? NBC hasn't been able to find a suitable spot yet between all the Law & Order plays, encores of The Apprentice, multiple Fear Factors and assorted other pump-em-up schedule tricks. After this month, I hope nobody doubts that the audience, more than ever, is being played for a bunch of fools and bottom-feeders. It was ever so, but never possibly quite as blatant, and never before have viewers simply appeared to have given up and decided to dig in with gusto. This would definitely be the season to bring up the televised execution question again; bring the vote to the people watching most reality shows, and I think we all know what the answer would be. (Speaking of Fear Factor, the show will have an afterlife on FX starting this summer, and on local stations, too. It remains to be seen whether other reality shows can cash in on syndicated back-end profits that could ladle up even more gravy for the genre, which has been generally considered unsuitable for rerunning. Ugh.)

But all is not lost! My best bet for tonight is HBO at 9:30p for an encore of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Baseball tickets, jury duty, marijuana, and a Hollywood hooker, among other ingredients, come together in yet another exasperating, entertaining episode. My favorite moment: Pot-dazed Larry in a you-talkin'-to-me? confrontation with the bathroom mirror. Quite insane and amazing.