Dishing the Dirt

Happy 2007 to all, may it suck less than 2006 did.

On to the TV stuff.

Normally, the TV gods make us wait until mid-January before the hint of fresh, new episodes comes up, but Hanukkah Harry has been good to us this year already, since there's a bunch of new stuff this week. Of course, none of the networks bothered to send me any advance copies, so I can't really review anything, just tell you what's on.

Tonight leads off with a new series, "dirt" (FX, 10 p.m.), with former "Friends" star Courtney Cox as the editor of a tabloid magazine.

I'll be checking out the pilot, at least, for two reasons. One, the world of tabloid journalism and paparazzi may be repellent to me, but I wasn't exactly a big fan of high fashion, either, and I love "Ugly Betty." Any subject matter that is well-written and done well has the potential to be interesting. So I am waiting to pass judgment on that.

Two, it's on FX. That alone means it has some potential.

If FX was a baseball pitcher, it'd be Pedro Martinez - not a full slate of starts, but generally quality ones when he does go. FX doesn't have a tremendous amount of original material on the air, but boy, it's quite the lineup with what it has.

Both "The Shield" and "Rescue Me" made my personal Top 10 list, and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" was an honorable mention. I don't personally watch "Nip/Tuck," but it does have quite the loyal fan base. Even shows that didn't take, such as "Over There" and "Lucky," drew their fair share of critical praise.

It makes you wonder why Rupert Murdoch doesn't put the people in charge of FX in charge of the Fox network instead. For every "House" or "24," there are about a zillion missteps and only so many bombs that "American Idol" can make up for.

It will be interesting to see if "dirt" can carry on the FX trend. Cox will be playing against type as the rather unlikeable editor of a trashy tabloid, and from what I have read, none of the other characters are particularly likeable. Of course, you could say the same thing about "The Shield." None of those characters are particularly likeable, but all of them are extremely compelling.

One final note, for those who plan on recording "dirt," the pilot runs at least four minutes long, so leave a little extra on the end.

TONIGHT'S BEST BET: Go Wake Forest!

The Demon Deacons square off with Louisville tonight in the Orange Bowl (Fox, 8 p.m.) Normally, I wouldn't care less about Wake, but I went against the field in my office college bowl pool (not for money, mind you, because that would be gambling, which would be wrong) and a Wake win, coupled with my USC victory last night, puts me in a strong position to do well in the pool.

For pride's sake, of course.