Ms. Smarty Pants Know It All

Wow, is it Friday already? Boy, life has been busy lately. How about some unimportant TV updates for today?

• Psych (USA)—After a really strong season last year, the first two episodes of this season have been highly disappointing. The improved ambition and seriousness of last year are all gone. Instead, we have a premiere filled with not-funny racial insults and a second episode that kills the UST between Shawn and Juliet. Weird thing to do, show.
• Tour de France (Versus)—Even though I’m not watching this because I have no fancy cable, I’m excited that Andy Schleck is only eight seconds behind Alberto Contador with two stages to go. Go, Andy!
• Damages Season 2 (DVD)—I thought season 1 of Damages had prepared me for the non-stop surprises of this series, but I am now fully back into the “What!-The!” zone. For disc one, I actually managed to watch just one episode at a time, but I blew through disc two in a flash. I can’t wait to see how this season ends (even though I’ve been warned to not expect something as awesome as season 1).
• Doctor Who (BBC America)—I’m not watching this one either due to a lack of cable, but just look at Jacob’s blurbs over at Television Without Pity. Hurry up, DVDs!

• So You Think You Can Dance (FOX)—So the last few seasons have gone off the rails a little bit. Hey, the dancing and choreography have been great as usual, but the production, scheduling, and judging have gone really wonky. For me, I’m enjoying the all-star format mainly because three of my four all-time favorites are back.

Allison (season 2) was the first dancer that I really rooted for in the run of the show. I’m glad to see how much attention and fan recognition she’s getting this time around. If you saw Wednesday’s performance show, you saw how the choreographer tried to hide Jose’s limitations with a very specific routine that nevertheless had him dropping (when he should have been placing) Allison against the edge of the stage over and over again. Check out her bruising.

Augh, Jose really should not have been buoyed by the judges for so long. This is still a show about dance, right? Don’t spend six seasons teaching us about dance, and then try to sell us on personality. I can see that he’s not keeping up and needs to be voted off.

And the non-elimination yesterday was garbage, Nigel.

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This show will grab you right from the Pilot. I’ve heard that the second season drops off in quality, but for now, I can highly advocate for Season 1. This is an unbelievable ride.

Glenn Close’s Patty Hewes is a magnetic and powerful character. Sometimes when she came on screen, I would literally draw my legs up and curl into the couch to get away from her. She’s chilling.

That’s not really a spoiler because you’ll find out what the show wants you to know about Patty Hewes right off the bat.

Everything else though, now those are delicious and thrilling mysteries that get gradually revealed throughout the course of the season. And wonderfully, by the end of the season, your questions do get answered. What a welcomed change.

As the show begins, elevator doors open to reveal a shaken and bloodied young woman stumbling out into daylight. From here, we jump back six months to learn about the events that led up to that moment. To make things even more interesting, a third timeframe, days and weeks after that elevator exit, comes into play.

It may sound confusing, and if you don’t pay attention, it will be. This is a show that trusts in the intelligence of the viewer. I watched many of the episodes with a furrowed brow and a dull headache from trying to figure out character motivations and plot twists.

The main story is about Ellen Parsons, a first-year lawyer who is hired by Patty Hewes, the veteran powerhouse attorney. Patty Hewes heads up the class-action lawsuit against Arthur Frobisher, played by a Ted Danson that I think will surprise you. Frobisher is accused of defrauding his employees out of the legitimate value of their company stocks.

This white-collar crime will reveal once again that money=power, and the need to gain and keep power is more bloody and dangerous than any basis for a conventional crime of passion.

The story is tight and interwoven in just the right way. I will be very surprised if you’re able to watch just one episode at a time. This is definitely a oh-just-one-more show.

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My one year promotional rate is up, and there appears to be no new deals available. Darn you, Xfinity! Get your fake change-over done with so I can get some deals already!

So just when I’ve actually caught up with TV, I’m doing a massive downgrade. No more fancy channels.

I’m going to miss the following shows that I’m actually watching in first-run. I think these are the one’s that I can’t watch online somewhere:

• Doctor Who (BBC America)—Ok, so this season’s not great, but there are so few episodes left. Now I have to wait and wait for the DVDs.
• Mad Men (AMC)—This show is awesome. Season 1 was solid enough and showed obvious potential. Season 2 had a bit of a drop off, but Season 3 came back strong and was the best yet. I finally caught up on discs and was greatly anticipating the July premiere of Season 4. D’oh!
• True Blood (HBO)—A very weird can’t-look-away show. Just when you think they can’t throw any more crazy at you…
• Entourage (HBO)—People say it’s slipped, but I’m still interested in how everyone’s careers progress. Besides, there is not a larger goal of the series is there? It is what it is.
• Tour de France (Versus)—le sigh

Now that I have fewer channels and no On Demand, I’m considering getting something that will stream Netflix. They’ve got a lot of instant viewing now. Plus, it’s been a while since I’ve tackled an AI. I miss it.

And there’s always RCN and AT&T. Perhaps they have something better going on.

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