Laurel’s TV Picks

Laurel is totally wiped out after staying up all night and most of this morning trying (and failing) to get tickets to the Minneapolis preview of Serenity and trying to plan her wedding. Yikes. So there are just abbreviated picks for Thursday in the tomorrow section. Laurel will return with picks for Friday on Friday.

Beauty and the Geek (WB, 7pm; airs again tomorrow
Series premiere of The Inside (FOX, 8pm)
MythBusters (Discovery, 8pm and 11pm)
Russell Crowe, Paul Anka on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm)

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Remember that you can read about Wednesday Daytime TV in the tomorrow section of Tuesday’s picks.

These DVD sales are too good not to mention them again, check out the low prices on season 1 of Arrested Development, the complete Firefly, season 1 of Have Gun Will Travel, the complete Keen Eddie, the complete Lone Gunmen, season 1 of Murder One, season 1 of Reno 911, season 1 of The Shield, and the complete Wonderfalls.

Series premiere of The Inside (FOX, 8pm).

Rookie FBI Agent Rebecca Locke (Rachel Nichols) joins the Los Angeles Violent Crimes Unit where she works for Virgil “Web” Webber (Peter Coyote). Webber is a tougher boss than the one Coyote most recently played on The 4400; he seems willing to do whatever it takes to catch the bad guys, even putting his agents at risk (more so than is typical).

Webber chose members of his team for their special skills, including their own personal strengths and weaknesses. He chooses Locke because she was herself a victim at a young age, so he seems to think she has unique insight into the minds of both the victims and the predators.

Jay Harrington (of Summerland, The Division, Coupling) plays Agent Paul Ryan, whose special quality (so far) seems to be that he’s sensitive and has a conscience. He’s also not afraid to stand up to Webber and tell him when he thinks he’s off-base in how he deals with his agents.

Adam Baldwin (who played Jayne on Firefly) plays Agent Danny Love, an ex-Marine who is the team’s tactical leader. Baldwin isn’t given much to do in the first three episodes other than lead the tactical team, so far we just know he’s a bit gruff and possibly something of a hothead. He also would like to wear flashy disguises.

Tony award winner Katie Finneran (who played Jaye’s sister on Wonderfalls) portrays Agent (and psychologist) Melody Sim. She’s tough, a little sarcastic, and we don’t see nearly enough of her either in the first three episodes.

In the first three episodes, we mostly see Agent Paul Ryan worry about the new agent and come into conflict with their boss who seems to put her in jeopardy a whole lot, without (much) concern for how this affects her. This could get old very fast.

Some people have high hopes for this series because Tim Minear is one of the executive producers; he most recently was an executive producer on Wonderfalls and Firefly, two outstanding series. This show is nowhere near as good as either of those shows, but then this show is firmly placed in familiar TV territory (whereas both Firefly and Wonderfalls were pretty darn unique).

The other executive producers on this series are Brian Grazer and David Nevins; with Craig Silverstein and Jane Espenson as co-executive producers and Howard Gordon serves as a consulting producer.

The first episode has a gruesome case (this is the violent crimes unit, after all). Rachel Nichols looks a bit too young (and frail) to be any sort of FBI agent. But then it’s possible strings were pulled to get her where she is.

This show does, at times, seem smarter than other FBI/profiler/crime sorts of shows. The dialogue is sometimes fresher, the cases are a little more interesting or have twists that are a little more unexpected. My fiance Kevin, who watches much less TV than me (and has higher standards) liked the show well enough to watch all three episodes with me and he says he’ll keep watching.

I wish I could rave about this show, I wish it were as good as Firefly or Wonderfalls, but it surely isn’t that special. One can hope, if the series manages to stick around long enough, that we’ll learn more about what makes these characters tick and that the show will get more interesting. I like the actors, though both Peter Coyote and Rachel Nichols can be pretty stiff at times. It’s a cut above the usual summer fare.

It is worth watching this summer, when there’s little else on. But if this show were to face stiffer competition, I’m not sure I’d recommend it nor how long it would last. Check it out for yourself and tell me what you think.

The series premiere of The Inside airs tonight on FOX at 8pm.

(Permanent link to this review)

Baseball: Boston Red Sox at St. Louis Cardinals (ESPN2, 6pm).

It’s the second episode of Beauty and the Geek (WB, 7pm; airs again tomorrow) where the challenge for the guys has them giving massages to the beauties; and the challenge for the women has them doing car repairs. I’ve seen the first and third episodes of this series and I reviewed them last week. This is a fun social experiment, with heart, and I think it’s worth your time this summer.

“The team’s most unusual room yet, a secret nuclear missile silo turned underground home” on While You Were Out (TLC, 7pm and 10pm).

NBC airs an episode of Psychic Detectives (NBC, 7pm), it’s a series that normally airs on Court TV. Watch as the police take real cases to psychics (when all else fails).

Clark joins the football team, the cheerleaders seem to be putting something in the water on a rerun of Smallville (WB, 7pm).

Adam and Jamie set out to build their own flying machine (or jet pack) on a new episode of MythBusters (Discovery, 8pm and 11pm).

Another airing of the season premiere of Queer Eye (Bravo, 8pm) that features the Boston Red Sox.

World Poker Tour: San Jose’s Bay 101 Shooting Stars of Poker (Travel, 8pm – 10pm, 11pm – 1am).

Joey McIntyre, John O’Hurley, and Evander Holyfield perform quick-step routines with their partners; Rachel Hunter, Trista Sutter, and Kelly Monaco perform rumbas with their partners on Dancing With The Stars (ABC, 8pm). Yes, really.

Two sets of real-life versions of the Gilligan’s Island castaways compete against each other on the season premiere of The Real Gilligan’s Island (TBS, 8pm; followed by another new episode at 9pm). This time around the Gingers are Erika Eleniak (of Baywatch) and Angie Everhart.

Kevin Hill (UPN, 8pm) tries to defend a professional boxer from going to jail over a deadly barroom brawl. He also tries to keep George around in this rerun.

George Lopez and his wife discuss his kidney transplant on Larry King Live (CNN, 8pm, 11pm, 2am).

Police and prosecutors go after a fanatical cult leader on a rerun of Law & Order (NBC, 8pm).

Baseball: Minnesota Twins at Arizona Diamondbacks (ESPN2, 9pm). Last season’s Cy Young winner Johan Santana takes the mound for the Twins (in his last outing, he threw 14 strikeouts. How many strikeouts will he get tonight?).

Part 2 of the first episode of Lost (ABC, 9pm). If you didn’t watch the show this past season, you missed one of the most interesting shows of the year. Check out the reruns this summer, they’re fun! My Mom is so addicted, she watches the reruns even though she’s seen all the episodes.

Top 10: Greatest TV Romances (TV Land, 9pm and midnight).

A plastic surgeon’s greed and narcissism contribute to his failure to care for a patient on a rerun of Law & Order (NBC, 9pm).

A briefcase is left behind at the New York Mercantile Exchange, a pregnant counselor is found dead next to the church where she worked on a rerun of CSI: NY (CBS, 9pm).

Down to the final two on Popularity Contest (CMTV, 9pm).

Coldplay on Storytellers (VH1, 9pm).

Colin Powell on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 10pm and midnight).

Rerun of the first episode of Hit Me Baby One More Time (Bravo, 10pm). Only worth watching if you can fast forward through large chunks of it.

Russell Crowe, Paul Anka on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 10:35pm).

Tom Cruise, chef Chandler Goff (creator of the Krispy Kreme burger), Toby Keith on The Tonight Show (NBC, 10:35pm).

Strictly Sex With Dr. Drew (Discovery Health Channel, 11pm and 2am).

George Lopez, Kaiser Chiefs on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC, 11:35pm).

Anthony Michael Hall (of The Dead Zone), Athlete on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, check your local listings).

Dennis Hopper, Marianne Jean-Baptiste (of Without A Trace), Carlos Alazraqui on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, check your local listings).

Jenny McCarthy, Carlos Bernard, Ben Folds on Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, check your local listings).

“What’s My Line, part 1″ and “What’s My Line, part 2″ episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (FX, 6am, 7am).

“Apocalypse, Nowish” episode of Angel (TNT, 7am).

Sci-Fi mini-marathon du jour: The Outer Limits (Sci-Fi, 7am – 3pm).

Father’s Day gift ideas on Today (NBC, 7am – 10am).

Katie Holmes, George Lopez on Good Morning, America (ABC, 7am – 9am).

Kyra Sedgwick, Tommy Hilfiger on The Early Show (CBS, 7am – 9am).

Sean “P. Diddy” Combs on Live with Regis and Kelly (syndicated, check your local listings).

George Lopez, Kyra Sedgwick on The View (ABC, check your local listings).

“A Family Matter” episode of Gilmore Girls (ABC Family, 10am).

John Goodman guest stars in the “Loyalties” episode of Ed (TBS, 11am) as the former owner of Stuckeybowl.

“Ted” and “Bad Eggs” episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (FX, Noon, 1pm). John Ritter memorably guest stars in “Ted.”

Banzai! (Comedy Central, 1pm, 1:30pm).

Kevin James, Shannen Doherty on a rerun of The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

Jane Fonda, Jo Frost (of Supernanny), John Edward on a rerun of The Tony Danza Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Hypnosis” on The Jane Pauley Show (syndicated, check your local listings).

More of “The Real Lives of Desperate Housewives” on Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Dana Reeve’s First Interview Since Christopher’s Death” on a rerun of Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings).

“Nag Hammadi Is Where They Found the Gnostic Gospels” episode of Gilmore Girls (ABC Family, 4pm).

“That Old Gang Of Mine” episode of Angel (TNT, 4pm).

“Assassins” episode of Felicity (We, 5pm). No 6pm rerun.

“Gravy Confidential” episode of Good Eats (Food Network, 6pm).

Weddings Unwrapped (Food Network, 6:30pm).

Jimmy Fallon hosts the 2005 MTV Movie Awards (MTV, 7:30pm; preshow at 7pm; show is rerun after it ends, at about 10:45pm or so).

Sixteen designers compete “to become the next great American designer” in the series premiere of The Cut (CBS, 7pm – 8:30pm). Tommy Hilfiger is their mentor and judge, from the sound of things.

Game 1 of the NBA Finals (ABC, 8pm).

A couple more reruns of The O.C. and plenty of other reruns.

The Knack, The Motels, Tommy Tutone, Haddaway, and Vanilla Ice compete on a new episode of Hit Me Baby One More Time (NBC, 8pm; airs again later this week on Bravo).

I’ll have full coverage of Thursday primetime and late night TV in my picks for Thursday. I should be back with picks on Friday.

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