Friday night, which was once the night TV shows went to die, seems to be having a resurgence, or so hope the networks, as they are programming new and returning shows to the formerly cursed evening.
The CW:
“Smallville” at 8 P.M. I stopped watching “Smallville” when it became clear the sexual tension between Clark Kent and Lex Luthor was never going to result in any tongue kissing. (It hasn’t, right?)
Fox:
“Brothers” at 8 P.M. Fox is airing two episodes of this new sitcom back-to-back. It stars former NFL star Michael Strahan, Daryl “Chill” Mitchell, Carl Weathers, and CCH Pounder. And, um, it looks terrible.
“Dollhouse” at 9 P.M. I hope the lead-in of “Brothers” doesn’t kill “Dollhouse”‘s chances at finding a bigger audience in its second season, but it’s certainly not going to help the show. I wrote about the issues I have with the series back at the end of season one, and while the finale did address some of those issues, it remains to be seen whether the show will ever be able to lose its overall “ick” factor.
CBS:
“Ghost Whisperer” at 8 P.M Despite the appeal of Jennifer Love’s Hewitts, and her often fab outfits on the show, I can’t say I’ve watched more than two episodes in its entire run. I prefer my mediums be a little more bedraggled….
“Medium” at 9 P.M. Bedraggled mediums? You’ve come to the right place! I am so very, very pleased that CBS saved this show after NBC cancelled it. For some odd reason, “Medium” often ends up being one of the shows I most look forward to watching every week, even if it is, at its hard, just another crime procedural show. There’s just something very engaging about snaggle-toothed Patricia Arquette and her loopy family. At the end of last season, Allison DuBois had surgery for a brain tumor–which may have been the cause of her psychic abilities–and was in a coma. Something–maybe my psychic ability, but probably just the knowledge that there’d be no show without a psychic Allison, duh–tells me she’s going to be fine.
“Numb3rs” at 10 P.M. It’s official: Every single drama currently on CBS has something to do with crimes and the solving or defending thereof. Amazing.
NBC:
“Law & Order” at 8 P.M. We can probably thank “Law & Order” for starting the crime TV trend. And with its new season–its 20th–it is officially tied with “Gunsmoke” for longest running primetime drama.
