Friday, January 11, 2008

Busy Weekend

It's hard to remember that there's a writers strike going on with the plethora of new stuff this weekend.

Chief among the offerings are two miniseries with excellent pedigrees.

PBS is bringing back a new season of "Masterpiece Theatre," though the new title of the series is now simply "Masterpiece." With new hostess Gillian Anderson ("The X-Files") in place, the series airs a new adaptation of Jane Austen's "Persuasion," (PBS, Sun., 9 p.m.) with Sally Hawkins as Anne Elliot and Anthony Stewart Head as her boorish father.

Opposite "Persuasion" Sunday night is "Comanche Moon," (CBS, Sun., 9 p.m.) the prequel to the immensly popular "Lonesome Dove" miniseries, based upon the work of Larry McMurtry. "Comanche Moon" follows the adventures of Gus (Steve Zahn) and Woodrow (Karl Urban) with their work as Texas rangers.

Either is a quality pick to spend Sunday night with.

WEEKEND'S BEST BETS: The Dillon Panthers face their unwanted locker roommates on the gridiron tonight on "Friday Night Lights," (NBC, 9 p.m.) as Riggins continues his topsy-turvy life while recruiters continue to dog Smash. It's followed by the 100th episode of "Las Vegas" at 10 p.m.

CBS is supposed to be all-new tonight, with new episodes of "Ghost Whisperer," "Moonlight" and "Numb3rs."

USA returns with new episodes of its hit detective series, "Monk" (USA, 9 p.m.), which guest stars Howie Mandel, and "Psych" (USA, 10 p.m.)

On Sunday, you can catch a new episode of the acclaimed series "The Wire," (HBO, 9 p.m.) or check out the debut of the new "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" at a special time at 8 p.m. before the series moves into its regular Monday night at 9 p.m. timeslot.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

With "30 Rock" and "Betty" last night, and "1 vs. 100", "FNL", "Moonlight", "Monk" and "Psych" ALL on tonight, it's hard to believe there's a strike going on. I plan to put my feet up and actually watch NEW shows tonight.

(I am not much on Game shows anymore, but last year, I did really get into NBC's "1 vs. 100" and "Identity" and actually enjoyed one of the "American Gladiators" hours my wife & I watched on Monday - was surprised that we still found that show fun).

I realize the weeks aren't as filled as they could be in a 'normal' cycle, but this relief of actually having a filled up Friday night with 5 hours of worthwhile new programming to watch is astounding. I am even taking a break from watching round the clock politics.

(Also, I had originally decided to quit "Monk" last year because it's the same silly thing over and over, but with so few shows around now, I am giving shows like "Monk" and "Prison Break" this Monday, continued lifelines).

Phillip Ramati said...

There is enough with Monk that I'm sticking with it. I gave up on PB after the first two episodes this season.