Tokeya
03-28-2003, 01:36 PM
Mrecurynews.com (http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/5502545.htm) list of pass up shows.
New shows compete -- weakly
By Charlie McCollum
It can be tough at any time for a new series to attract viewer attention. Trying to get people at this particular point in time will be even harder.
But that hasn't stopped the networks from trying, and this weekend there is a batch of fresh, hopeful shows eagerly panting for your love and recognition. Sad to say that they will probably go away disappointed after a few episodes.
The best of the newbies -- and that's not saying much -- is ``The Pitts'' (9:30 p.m. Sunday, Chs. 2, 35), the brainchild of Mike Scully and Julie Thacker-Scully of ``The Simpsons.'' It's a rude and sometimes crude comedy about your standard-issue sitcom family suffering through the trials of Job. Each week, the Pitts suffer through what the father -- the hopelessly optimistic Bob Pitt -- sees as just everyday bad luck: Satanic possession, werewolves, lightning strikes and hauntings.
Some of this stuff is pretty funny, and there's a terrifically loopy performance by the excellent Dylan Baker as Bob Pitt. But the writing isn't consistently good and the cruelties inflicted upon the family -- while they might have been palatable in animated form -- come across as mean-spirited.
Still, ``The Pitts'' is better than the other new ``family'' comedy: ``Regular Joe'' (9:30 tonight, Ch. 7). This comedy is so predictable -- single dad, teenage son, teenage daughter, funny grandfather -- that you will be able to shout out the lines before the actors can say them. The sad thing about ``Regular Joe'' is that it wastes a couple of fine comedy actors in John Francis Daley (``Freaks and Geeks'') as the son and Judd Hirsch (``Taxi'') as the granddad.
Also starting its run tonight: ``Tremors: The Series'' (9 p.m., Sci Fi), based on the marvelously off-beat and funny 1990 science-fiction film about an isolated town threatened by gigantic earthworms. The series is built around one of the supporting characters from the film: paranoid survivalist Burt Gummer, still played by Michael Gross.
Unfortunately, Gross is about the only thing that has been imported intact from the original film. Gone are the wit, the entertaining twists on sci-fi films and actors (outside of Gross) who knew they were doing a sendup of the genre. And the special effects are so cheesy that it looks as if the series cost about $1.95 to make.
It's hard to believe that Sci Fi canceled the fine ``Farscape'' to put this series on the air.
Finally, there's ``Black Sash'' (9 p.m. Sunday, Ch. 20), a rare misstep by the WB, which has an above-average track record with hour-long dramas. This series about an ex-cop who uses the martial arts to raise the self-esteem of at-risk kids (all of whom look like contestants on ``Are You Hot?'') is flat-out boring. That's particularly true of star Russell Wong, who may be able to kick with the best of them but has the emotional range of a brick.
Next week's second episode is somewhat better but not by enough for you to invest your time.
Remote controls
• That ``Ed'' episode I mentioned in last Friday's column -- the one in which Carol decides she loves Ed -- will finally air tonight (9 p.m., Chs. 8, 11). It was postponed last week because of war coverage.
• ``Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story'' (8 p.m. Sunday, USA) claims to be an unvarnished look at the former New York mayor. It isn't. Much of the controversy surrounding Giuliani -- who may have been New York's most polarizing mayor before Sept. 11 -- has been airbrushed out now that Rudy is an American hero. It's also way too obvious that ``Rudy'' was filmed on the cheap in Toronto and not in the Big Apple. Only an interesting performance by James Woods as Giuliani makes this film remotely watchable.
__________
$1.95 ... :rollin:
New shows compete -- weakly
By Charlie McCollum
It can be tough at any time for a new series to attract viewer attention. Trying to get people at this particular point in time will be even harder.
But that hasn't stopped the networks from trying, and this weekend there is a batch of fresh, hopeful shows eagerly panting for your love and recognition. Sad to say that they will probably go away disappointed after a few episodes.
The best of the newbies -- and that's not saying much -- is ``The Pitts'' (9:30 p.m. Sunday, Chs. 2, 35), the brainchild of Mike Scully and Julie Thacker-Scully of ``The Simpsons.'' It's a rude and sometimes crude comedy about your standard-issue sitcom family suffering through the trials of Job. Each week, the Pitts suffer through what the father -- the hopelessly optimistic Bob Pitt -- sees as just everyday bad luck: Satanic possession, werewolves, lightning strikes and hauntings.
Some of this stuff is pretty funny, and there's a terrifically loopy performance by the excellent Dylan Baker as Bob Pitt. But the writing isn't consistently good and the cruelties inflicted upon the family -- while they might have been palatable in animated form -- come across as mean-spirited.
Still, ``The Pitts'' is better than the other new ``family'' comedy: ``Regular Joe'' (9:30 tonight, Ch. 7). This comedy is so predictable -- single dad, teenage son, teenage daughter, funny grandfather -- that you will be able to shout out the lines before the actors can say them. The sad thing about ``Regular Joe'' is that it wastes a couple of fine comedy actors in John Francis Daley (``Freaks and Geeks'') as the son and Judd Hirsch (``Taxi'') as the granddad.
Also starting its run tonight: ``Tremors: The Series'' (9 p.m., Sci Fi), based on the marvelously off-beat and funny 1990 science-fiction film about an isolated town threatened by gigantic earthworms. The series is built around one of the supporting characters from the film: paranoid survivalist Burt Gummer, still played by Michael Gross.
Unfortunately, Gross is about the only thing that has been imported intact from the original film. Gone are the wit, the entertaining twists on sci-fi films and actors (outside of Gross) who knew they were doing a sendup of the genre. And the special effects are so cheesy that it looks as if the series cost about $1.95 to make.
It's hard to believe that Sci Fi canceled the fine ``Farscape'' to put this series on the air.
Finally, there's ``Black Sash'' (9 p.m. Sunday, Ch. 20), a rare misstep by the WB, which has an above-average track record with hour-long dramas. This series about an ex-cop who uses the martial arts to raise the self-esteem of at-risk kids (all of whom look like contestants on ``Are You Hot?'') is flat-out boring. That's particularly true of star Russell Wong, who may be able to kick with the best of them but has the emotional range of a brick.
Next week's second episode is somewhat better but not by enough for you to invest your time.
Remote controls
• That ``Ed'' episode I mentioned in last Friday's column -- the one in which Carol decides she loves Ed -- will finally air tonight (9 p.m., Chs. 8, 11). It was postponed last week because of war coverage.
• ``Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story'' (8 p.m. Sunday, USA) claims to be an unvarnished look at the former New York mayor. It isn't. Much of the controversy surrounding Giuliani -- who may have been New York's most polarizing mayor before Sept. 11 -- has been airbrushed out now that Rudy is an American hero. It's also way too obvious that ``Rudy'' was filmed on the cheap in Toronto and not in the Big Apple. Only an interesting performance by James Woods as Giuliani makes this film remotely watchable.
__________
$1.95 ... :rollin: