The Week in DVR: Putting It in Idol! Show Dips, But Dominates; Terminator, Project Runway, Jews Offer Solace
MONDAY
So, um, hey writers, so far you’ve been winning the public relations war—despite the fact that your absence has lead to our favorite shows in premature repeats, a deluge of reality programming, and a Golden Globes “press conference” (which scored abysmal ratings, by the way). But, ahem, those directors seemed to have worked things out with the studios rather quickly—you may have paved the way, but how many more nights like tonight, where good TV has been replaced by American Gladiators (NBC, 8 p.m.), are people going to take before they start to forget that and start to think you’re an unreasonable bunch?
Speaking of the Golden Globes, guess what easily kicked Billy Bush’s butt? The premiere of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Fox, 9 p.m.), which had the best debut of any new series this season and settles into its permanent slot tonight. The show has some unique challenges ahead: for instance, if the primary love interest is between an adolescent boy and a robot (which, granted, is the fantasy of their primary demographic and this guy), how do they pursue it without making the whole thing entirely too creepy?
Meanwhile, let’s not forget that it’s Martin Luther King Day. What better way to honor the man than with a debate? CNN will televise the Congressional Black Caucus Democratic Candidates Presidential Primary Debate from South Carolina. Wow, I wonder what they’re going to talk about ...
Bonus: AMC is rerunning the pilot episode of Breaking Bad, a quirky compliment to the second season of Golden-Globe winning Mad Men. AMC is so hot right now.
TUESDAY
Put it into Idol (Fox, 8 p.m.). Interesting little fun fact: the show’s ratings are down 10 percent from last year. Is it too soon to say that the show has peaked? Is this the beginning of the end of reality TV? Um, the show still managed 33.4 million viewers, 12 million more than any other show on tonight. Oh.
At 10 p.m., TruTV debuts Real Hustle, a show dedicated to revealing the truth behind scams. First stop: New York City. According to tvguide.com, they make “off with some valuables; the trick to three-card monty is revealed; and the scammers take on an eavesdropper at a flea market.” Hey, it’s not reality, it’s … the 80's.
WEDNESDAY
It’s a night where practically all of the network programming is brand new, but it’s a mirage—its next-generation game shows, the Power of 10 (ABC, 8 p.m.) and Fox’s new Moment of Truth (9 p.m.), don’t bear up under close scrutiny. My advice: skip the network and stick to public television this evening. Pioneers of Television (PBS, 8 p.m.) examines traditional game shows—y’know, the ones with class!—while The Jewish Americans (PBS, 9 p.m.) enters its homestretch—its eighth night of Chanukah, if you will—covering the second half of the twentieth century up to today, basically everything from the first Jewish Miss America to Matisyahu, the rapping Hasid. If you haven’t been watching, let me catch you up: everything awesome ever created to entertain was done by Jews, even “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas.”
Bonus: new episode of Project Runway. Can’t they start factoring in what the designers are wearing, too, when deciding who to throw off? What’s with Ricky and his hats?
THURSDAY
Boo-hoo. Last episodes of Chuck (NBC, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.) make a Trump sandwich (Celebrity Apprentice, NBC, 9 p.m.). And does Gordon Ramsay ever rest? The British—a k a the original—version of Kitchen Nightmares (BBC America, 8 p.m.) opens its fourth season tonight.
FRIDAY
Garth Brooks (no relation!) emerges from an extreme-wealth induced hibernation to perform some his greatest hits (CBS, 9 p.m.). You think he still has friends in low places? Nah.
