Laurel’s TV Picks

Best Bets

New Gilmore Girls (CW, 7pm)
New Friday Night Lights (NBC, 7pm)
New Veronica Mars (CW, 8pm)
New House (FOX, 8pm)
New The Unit (CBS, 8pm)
Series premiere of 3 Lbs. (CBS, 9pm)
New Nip/Tuck (FX, 9pm, 10:03pm)

News & Notes

NBC has picked up Friday Night Lights for a full season. Yay!

A technical glitch caused yesterday’s picks to be emailed to list subscribers today. Sorry about that!

Too much good TV on Tuesdays, it’s enough to overload one’s TiVo. I would list NCIS and both the Law & Order shows as “Best Bets” too, but I’m confident they’ll all be rerun plenty of times (in fact the two Law & Order shows air again in just over a week on USA). Whereas the other series mentioned may not air again so soon or else involve continuing storylines where you really have to keep up.

Primetime Grid

Featured Pick

Stanley Tucci and Mark Feuerstein star in the series premiere of 3 Lbs. (CBS, 9pm). The average human brain weights three pounds and this is a series about brain surgeons: their work, their lives, their loves. Indira Varma also stars (”Niobe” from Rome). Griffin Dunne appears in the first episode in a what looks like it could become a recurring role.

I really want to like this series as I like the actors in it and feel we could use another good medical drama. Unfortunately, the first episode didn’t impress me. It’s not a bad show, but it’s not good either. Decent, but nothing remarkable. Kinda vaguely boringly good or at least average, but not great.

Mostly the show suffers greatly when compared to House and it’s impossible not to compare it to that show. Stanley Tucci plays a brilliant brain surgeon who has difficulty interacting with people and showing a truly human side; he also may very well have a disability or at least a medical problem that is cause for concern (though he’s hiding it in at least the first episode). He can be a jerk, but not an especially nasty or amusing jerk– in other words: he’s no House. Of course the character also shows glimmers of humanity in the first episode.

The first episode opens with people going about their lives, until one of them falls over and is, presumably, rushed to a hospital while we’re off watching commercials or the opening credits. We even get “inside the body” cam or whatever you want to call it: where graphics show you just what is going wrong inside the person as it goes wrong. Sound familiar? My husband even remarked that the incidental music sounded like that of a certain medical drama which airs on FOX.

Mark Feuerstein plays a young brain surgeon who, in the first episode, is just beginning work at this particular hospital with Tucci’s character. Feuerstein is likeable (yet again, you’ve probably seen him in many roles by now) as he plays a doctor who actually does believe it’s useful to get to know the patients. Of course he and his boss will clash, of course one will relate better to the patients, we’ve seen this all before.

Indira Varma plays a neurologist who appears to have history with Tucci’s character and chemistry with Feuerstein’s character. She also likes to walk around barefoot and seems a bit new age-y in some respects. At least that’s what one learns in the pilot, one hopes all of these characters will grow in future episodes.

There were sequences in the first episode that my husband and I dubbed “arty”. We get a visualization of what it must be like for a patient who can’t speak– she’s losing words, you see, and we see them as words on stickers she can’t quite reach in a dreamlike sequence. And then there are the hallucinations, but I won’t say more about those just yet; if the show survives, I’ll talk about them some other day.

The show looks good, the performances are good, the stories are even decent. It’s well-produced, well-directed. And yet . . . it’s disappointing. There’s no new twist or hook here to grab me. It’s not as entertaining as House or Grey’s Anatomy or even ER and I can’t help but wish it was. I don’t want rehashes of those shows, but surely there’s room for another medical drama that comes at things from a different angle.

Supposedly future episodes will get more into the romantic lives of the doctors and the hospital politics. I sure hope there’s more humor in future episodes given the commercials seem to emphasize that angle and they show quips that aren’t (to the best of my recollection) in the first episode.

There’s potential here (just given the talent involved) and if the show sticks around for a while, maybe this could grow into a show worth recommending. For now, I’ll probably be watching Boston Legal and/or Law & Order: SVU instead. Though if you’re a fan of any of these actors or of this kind of show, you really may want to check out the first episode tonight or online while you have a chance. I’ll be keeping an eye on the show for a while, ever hopeful that it will live up to its potential.

Primetime

Lorelai and Christopher visit Paris on Gilmore Girls (CW, 7pm) and I’m sure fans that hate Christopher or hate him with Lorelai will not be pleased, but I’m enjoying seeing Chris and Lor together, though I still think Lorelai will end up with Luke or heading back to Luke by the end of the season (no, I haven’t read any spoilers, I’m just speculating based on episodes to date). And Rory is unsure about her future– you knew that would happen given she’s somehow a senior already.

I’m hearing from more and more people who have seen the light about Friday Night Lights (NBC, 7pm). Awesome. Though I must admit I’ve fallen behind and have a couple of episodes I need to watch. It’s Homecoming in tonight’s episode and that’s sure to be interesting. I’m very pleased to report that NBC has renewed this show for a full season.

Suspicious activity surrounds the death of a decorated Marine and the NCIS (CBS, 7pm) team tries to clear his name. Jonathan Woodward is among the guest stars (he was “Knox” on Angel and also had guest roles on both Buffy and Firefly).

The negotiators end up seeking the help of a “shock jock” on Standoff (FOX, 7pm) so they must be pretty desperate. I’m just saying, is all.

Veronica Mars (CW, 8pm) isn’t very happy that her Dad is spending so much time with a client (Laura San Giacomo), but Just Shoot Me fans probably are getting a kick out of it. And Logan wants Veronica’s help to clear the name of a friend. I’m still in love with this show.

Could a man’s symptoms be somehow related to the reason his father has been in a coma for years? Leave it to House (FOX, 8pm; airs again on Fri 11/24 at 10pm on USA) to get to the bottom of it. John Larroquette guest stars as the guy in a coma who presumably ends up out of the coma for at least a little while (otherwise why would you hire John Larroquette for the part?). David Morse continues his tiresome (IMHO) stint on the show as a cop out to make House’s life even more miserable than it already is. I like Morse, but see no need for this storyline; here’s hoping it’s going somewhere interesting.

Bob (Scott Foley) and his translator survive a helicopter crash in Siberia on The Unit (CBS, 8pm). Unfortunately it sounds like their gear doesn’t survive the crash so they have to try to survive without it.

Goren and Eames help the Commissioner Leland Dockerty and his wife find their missing daughter on Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC, 8pm; airs again on Saturday 11/25 on USA at 10pm). Michael Biehn, Fran Drescher, and Rita Moreno guest star.

Series premiere of Show Me The Money (ABC, 8:31pm - 10pm). William Shatner hosts this new primetime game show. I like this description from the TV listings: “Contestants must answer trivia questions and seek help from the Million-Dollar Dancers.” Shatner gets to be as goofy as he wants to be while hosting this show (with dancers!).

Series premiere of 3 Lbs. (CBS, 9pm). Today’s featured pick, see above.

Stabler and Beck (Connie Nielsen) try to get a young prostitute to testify against her pimp on Law & Order: SVU (NBC, 9pm; also airs on Sunday 11/26 at 10pm on USA). Michael Kenneth Williams guest stars as the pimp (but you may know him best as “Omar” on The Wire). He’s so awesome on The Wire it’s not even funny.

Oh-oh, Nip/Tuck (FX, 9pm, 10:03pm) is going all science fictional or at least it’s flashing forward a good ways. This episode is set in 2026 and has an adult Conor gathering the family together. Joely Richardson is taking a leave of absence from the show to spend more time with her 15-year-old daughter who has a rare disease. DVR Alert: runs 3 minutes over.