Oh no you didn't! Knight Rider rides again

Fer sure!

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117972829.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

Suh-weet!

Wednesday open thread, plus Yay Thursday!

Wednesday night is just about all new shows this year, so if you watched "Kid Nation," "Private Practice," "Dirty Sexy Money," "Back to You," "Kitchen Nightmares," "Bionic Woman," "Gossip Girl" or "Life," here's your chance to weigh in.

Plus, tonight is "The Office" season premiere! Yay.

To answer a couple of comments from the previous thread, I also thought "Bionic Woman" was lacking. Katee Sackhoff is just way more interesting than what's-her-face. I get bored every time she leaves the screen. The whole thing feels like a one-off cable show - it ought to have more fun, or at least have something to say (a la "Galactica").

I didn't see "Dr. Steve-O" but they sent out a promo reel. It looks, and I don't use this term lightly, evil. Anyone who watches it (who is not an actual, real 13-year-old boy) needs to grow the hell up.

Let's open the Dead Pool... wait, too late!

I hadn't even gotten around to predicting which new fall show would be the first in the cancellation bin, and here it is already. Fox pulled the plug on its reality docu-soap "Nashville" after two airings. Brutal.

Still, if anybody wants to go ahead and predict the next show to get cancelled, I'm taking bets.

Now that's a season premiere

"House" rocked the house last night, in my humble opinion. Really standout episode, with Hugh Laurie carrying pretty much all of the comedic and dramatic weight. Of course, there's no one who can bear and balance that role as good as Laurie.

I missed the Scooby gang less than I thought I would, but it's easy to forget Foreman, et al, when you have Dr. Buffer on the case.

And I hear next week's episode is just completely hilarious. House's boot camp for the new team is an idea that simply can't miss.

Open Monday thread - Heroes et al

So if you tuned in for the "Heroes" premiere, or if you have any thoughts on "Chuck" or "Journeyman," here's the place to vent.

I liked "Chuck," but it has the same problem "Reaper" does: Great set-up, but will it translate into a sustainable show? "Journeyman" is kind of a neither-nor - it's like a gloomier "Quantum Leap," which doesn't seem to have a natural audience. As much as I like star Kevin McKidd, I don't see that one lasting.

OK, now "Heroes" - Anyone else disappointed? It felt warmed-over. Another big bad, more Claire being an outcast, more conspiracy stuff. Eh. Nothing there really grabbed me, but maybe once the plot has a chance to get rolling, I'll get caught up. Still a great-looking show, which counts for something. HRG continues to rule and I'm somewhat intrigued by the death-dealing woman. So we'll see.

KRDO gives the nod to J-Full

OK, it's not as euphonius as K-Mac, but Jennifer (Fullerton) Brown is getting the full-time gig as Zach Thaxton's co-host on KRDO's "Good Morning Colorado," replacing Kellie MacMullan on the anchor desk.

Also fresh from the KRDO hopper: Thaxton and Brown are taking over the noon news, with Eric Singer sliding to 5 p.m., where he'll co-anchor with Heather Skold.

I wonder how that's going to work - 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. seems like tough sledding, when you consider prep time and such.

Is that a Member's Only jacket?

"Friday Night Lights" is back. Well, it's back next week, but you can watch it on the Web now. My advice? Don't. The jerky, swirling, hovering camera work is a big part of the show's feel, and that just doesn't translate well to a streaming video that's jerky and grainy to start with.

As far as the merits of the episode, there was some more bravura acting, particularly Connie Britton and Aimee Teegarten, but I don't think this is the episode that will suddenly win over everyone who's been avoiding the show so far.

There's a plot twist at the end that is already controversial among FNL fans. It's very Scooby-Doo, which is jarring for a show that's usually closer to Shakespeare.

Anyway, whether the show fixes that glitch and soars to new heights, or burns up ignominiously in a second-season-jinx meltdown, I'll be watching.

Mario Valdes

I went to Mario Valdes' memorial service this afternoon. Valdes was the general manager for KRCC (91.5 FM) for 26 years and left a giant thumbprint on the station. If you're a KRCC fan, you've got Mario to thank. If you hate the station, that's Mario, too. And whichever way you lean, I think he'd be pleased that you cared enough to care.

Local pens for "Aquaman"

This is cool: Air Academy grad Matt Wolpert, who was a production assistant on "My Name is Earl," just got hired to write for "Entourage."

Movin' up the Hollywood totem pole - good for him. Also good for HBO's "Entourage," which after the season it's had is clearly, desperately in need of some new writers.

Unsolicited advice for Matt: Vince needs to fail and keep failing until he grows a spine. Don't use the Drama/Turtle shenanigans as a crutch. Or Ari. Or Lloyd. And either make Eric less of a prick or send him back to the pizza place.

That is all.

Moonlight leaves a bad taste in my mouth

A horrible pun for a horrible show. How's this for a blurb: "Easily the worst show of the 2007 fall season!"

This was one of like two new shows they didn't send out screeners for, so when I got the DVD today I plugged it right in. And regretted it nearly immediately.

I knew it was a ripoff of the syndicated "Forever Knight" from the late '80s, but I never expected a network show to be so much worse.

A vampire detective show... it's probably going to be dumb, but there's no reason for it to be boring. "Forever Knight" was a guilty pleasure. ABC's midseason "New Amersterdam," which is basically the same show, isn't good, but neither is it out and out awful.

Anyway, it premieres Sept. 28 - there's another hour of your life back.

K-ville

The first new scripted drama of the fall season premieres tonight at 8, Fox's ambitious, formulaic, deeply disappointing "K-Ville."

It's a show that's got so much rich material to work with - specifically star Anthony Anderson and its location in New Orleans - that the producers seem to have thought producing an original script was superfluous.

I won't even bother with the plot: It's a cop show so old-fashioned it makes "Starsky and Hutch" look daring.

New Orleans, however, looks amazing. The city just oozes tension and character and drama. And then the show smothers it.

Fox should have taken a bag of money the size of Louisiana down to David Milch and gotten him to do this thing right. The amount of wasted potential here is breathtaking. Once this thing gets canceled, HBO should pay Fox $1 for it and start over from scratch. There's a dynamite story here dying to get out.

Emmies

I was watching the Patriots-Chargers game. It was a blowout early. I flipped to the Emmys. Robert Duvall was giving an acceptance speech. I pulled an episode of "Survivorman" up off the DVR. Watched it. Flipped back to the Emmys. Robert Duvall was giving an acceptance speech.

That is all.

Oh wait, it's not. I have to do my traditional post-Emmy bitching. James freakin' Spader for best actor? Yeah, James Gandolfini was phoning it in that final season (note, that's sarcasm). And given that Fox didn't let Hugh Laurie host the show specifically because they were afraid half-wit "House" fans would be confused by his British accent, isn't that actual evidence that the boy can act? Sally Field over Edie Falco was unjust.

Aside from that, I can't really bitch too much. Terry O'Quinn winning supporting actor was a nice surprise, "30 Rock" getting best comedy was richly deserved. Honestly, the picks weren't as bad as they usually are.

It's here! The new season is here!

It's not exactly kicking off with a bang, but still: The fall season officially begins at 8 p.m. tonight, with the launch of Fox's new "reality docu-soap" "Nashville."

Reality docu-soap sounds to me like something high energy physicists came up with to explain string theory, but apparently it's an entire television genre now.

Anyway, dump your Friday plans immediately and plant yourself in front of your TV.

My BIG fall TV preview runs Sunday.

"Tell Me" somebody's watching

We were just talking about HBO's "Tell Me You Love Me" in one of the comment threads. Well, the ratings for the premiere are out and the news is not good. That's even wore than the now-canceled "John from Cincinnati." My "Showtime for Showtime" column is looking better and better (see that's me, always looking for the silver lining).

Showtime for Showtime

I spent last night watching the first four episodes of the new season of Showtime's "Dexter," a drama about a serial killer trained by his adoptive father to hunt other serial killers. I'd always meant to check out the first season, but never got the chance, so I jumped on the DVD's when they arrived on Monday.

And it didn't disappoint. I mean, it's really a pretty trite premise if you think about it too much -- kind of like Clint Eastwood's old cowboy anti-heroes - but the cast is good, the writing is good, and, even if it's a spin on all those CBS procedurals at heart, it makes for wicked fun TV.

The new season doesn't premiere until Sept. 30. I also have the first four episodes of the new series of "Brotherhood" to watch. If those measure up, it'll certainly be time for a "Showtime eclipses HBO" column.

KKTV ups the weather ante

I can't really say what having their own Doppler station will really do for KKTV's weather reports, but it'll definitely be a promotion goldmine. I'm surprised it's KKTV taking the plunge, rather than KRDO, given 13's devotion to storm coverage.

I hope KKTV gets a full-fledged weather channel running - they could probably get decent ratings just for the radar sweeps, at least during storms.

Also, it ups the ante again: Who's going to break out the checkbook for the helicopter?

I'm back

Rolled in last night around midnight. And until I walked into the living room, I literally had not seen a TV for an entire week. So maybe I'll be able to look at the fall TV season with fresh eyes now. Or maybe I'll spend the weekend catching up on "Top Gear" repeats on BBC America. Ah yeah!