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 Josh Cooke and Jennifer Finnigan star in the new comedy Committed. |
A buddy rang me up out of the blue yesterday. Was I heading down to Hollywood again this January and was there anything coming up worth watching, he asked.
Well, yes and no. The press tour starts next week. Look for daily updates here in The Sun.
I have seen the first three hours of 24 (season four starts Sunday at 8 p.m. on Global and Fox), and it is fabulous, as good as season one. The Tournament, the new CBC mockumentary about out of control minor hockey parents (Mondays at 8:30 p.m.) is a laff, I told him.
Beyond that, there are new shows to the left and right, but few I'd recommend, starting with tonight's timewasters:
Committed (Global, 8:30 p.m.) stars Josh Cooke (Century City) and Jennifer Finnigan (Crossing Jordan) as two opposites who attract, leading to a whirlwind courtship. Makes Dharma & Greg look funny. Worth watching only for Newhart veteran Tom Poston as another crazy old fart.
Missed Martha while she's been in the slammer? Brace yourselves for Wickedly Perfect (CH and CBS, 8 p.m.). Joan Lunden hosts this reality-show search for the next Martha Stewart. Twelve contestants compete to see who can out-basket weave, out-floral arrange and out-insider trade. The winner gets to host her own lifestyles show and abuse assistants. Sex And The City author Candice Bushell, stylist-to-the-stars David Evangelista and chef Bobby Flay are among the judges. You see what happens when there's no hockey?
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Saturday, CBS plugs a hole with The Will, another lame reality show. Here uptight siblings compete to see who is worthy of eventually cashing in when old-man moneybags kicks. Didn't ABC already try this with The Family a year or so ago?
Sunday brings the second season of HBO's freaky drama Carnivale to TMN (10 p.m.). An acquired taste that started strong but went nowhere last season.
The Bachelorette (CITY-TV, ABC) returns Monday with dumped Bachelor babe Jen Schefft handing out roses. Stick a thorn in it, it's done.
This goes on all month. One of the riskier new dramas is Johnny Zero (Jan. 14), a gritty John Wells drama about an ex-con turned private eye. Brooding Frankie G has star potential, plus his name is easy to spell.
There's tons more this month, from new editions of The Simple Life (Jan. 30) and American Idol (Jan. 18) to the supernatural drama Point Pleasant (Jan. 19).
Ridley Scott is behind Numb3rs (Jan. 23), starring Rob Morrow as an FBI agent who solves crimes with the help of his math-whiz brother (The Lyon's Den's David Krumholtz).
There are even some new Canadian shows! Well, one or two episodes of new Canadian shows. Global hangs on to its broadcast licence with one crummy episode of their long-delayed teen soap Falcon Beach (Jan. 29). CTV has Instant Star, the Canadian Idol-inspired teen-dream drama (Jan. 23). CBC has an hour of Colin Mochrie's goof on '60s television, Getting Along Famously (Monday) as well as an hour of Mary Walsh's Hatching, Matching and Dispatching (Jan. 17).
As I said, tons. Any worth watching? Stay tuned.