The Week On Television

NCIS Los Angeles
I like it when movie actors take their skills and their sorta street cred to move to television. Its not slumming to be on weekly and its a paycheck between those all too infrequent movie gigs. Maybe Chris O'Donnell can atone for his bat nipples (TWO movies worth) and I do likes me some LL Cool J though, like I said before, he did encourage my beating by repeating the phrase "momma says knock you out." I also enjoy Linda Hunt when she gets all badass and spunky and stares down her agents who don't sass her back because they know she's got the mojo to send their asses to a far north weather station. She nickle and dimes them about all their expenses which is a cute gag. She knows all about them and treats the agents all like they are her children with a particular fondness for 'G', O'Donnell's character who we know was raised as an orphan before he found the military so he has attachment and abandonment issues. I hope they develop a close mother/son bond. So eventually when she is put in danger he can go full out revenge to get her back. There, I have already written the first year. Move on everyone. Its only one episode in but the other NCIS show lived and died on the strong relationships between the characters so this one is looking like its off to a good start. O'Donnell's character has a quirk where he can't live in the same place for more than a week or so. That seems to be the running joke. I enjoyed the two parter that went with the regular NCIS last season so I am giving this a full chance. I like figuring out the mystery as we go along. Unlike Gibbs and his boys, these agents don't play. Can't remember the last time I saw Jethro or McGee throw a punch.

iCarly
The show only gets stronger with better jokes and wackier situations. We even got to see how Sam and Carly first met. Sam wanted Carly's sandwich and pushed her down. Carly pushed back and a friendship was born. I could include this with my favorite Disney shows which I download and save for a good Sunday night watch fest. Its is a nice way to end the week and prepare for the next.

Warehouse 13
I get the idea that SYFY had little faith in this show and made sure that the first order of 13 ended one whole story arc that left us with many questions in case the series got picked up (which it did). Artie of course isn't dead (he can't be) and that prick McPherson really is a bad ass villain damaging our Claudia and Leena in the process of wrecking the warehouse (which can't be totally wrecked). I so hope we don't have to wait a month or more for the next episode to come out but I think we will. Cable networks have the freedom to show these episodes over blocks of time then leave months before starting up again. Both 'In Plain Sight' and 'Burn Notice' are hurting for return episodes right now.

Hell's Kitchen (which would be funnier if they called a show Hell's Kitten - you know where families compete to adopt the best kitty possible) We are down to the last six chefs and I don't see one that really could take over a major restaurant in Whistler. Tenille maybe but I am not sure and by this time in the show I usually am sure. The Olympics are coming soon so the choice has to be made soon.

Mentalist
There is nothing more fun than watching Thomas Jane (Simon Baker) work his mojo on a group of suspects. Everything he says appears to have no meaning but of course like any expert mentalist he is reading and observing everything about them. Its brilliant to watch. I hope that they avoid all the 'Red John' red herring business that kinda slowed things down last year but it will have to be resolved eventually. Maybe a bit every year till the final two hour finale. The best part, however, about coming back to the show are the female leads, Robin Dunne and Amanda Righetti who are both delicious catnip.

Glee
Still running on all cylinders. I love the mix of humor that comes from love and there is love to be found even with the evil characters. Will Curt (the gay student) tell his father that he is gay when he gets a spot on the football team? Will Will's (the glee club teacher) wife confess that she is not really pregnant and if not, how will she plot and scheme to get Quinn's baby? Will Sue (the evil cheerleader coach) remain batshit crazy and EVER get her comeuppance? Am I actually feeling bad that Quinn is pregnant? But she is evil incarnate, isn't she? Is Puck the baby's father? Is Rachelle leaving Glee? OMG. I love her bossiness and conceit. I am just so mixed up. If you are not watching this show you missed out on one of the great football moments of all time. I mean it. ALL TIME.

Criminal Minds
This show continues to delve deep onto the lives and the horror that it must be to do the job of an FBI profiler. Things are not neatly wrapped up by the end of the hour. I have grown close to these all too human characters and in the end all I know is that at ANY time one of them can be taken from me and there is nothing I can do about it. Just like it must be in real life. Sure, the kind of criminals that they pursue are the 1% that are truly off their nut but boy it makes for compelling television. Its just a show but there are people out there who do this kind of job everyday while we all sit safe behind our screens and eat Popsicles whenever we feel like it. Of all the shows that I watch online, this is the one that I NEED the break that comes from commercials just to decompress and catch my breath. Excellence from all involved.

NCIS
I loved how after all these years that they found a way for Denozzo to bring us up to speed on the members of the team complete with what make them unique. While being held prisoner in the Middle East and under truth serum we get the complete 'skinny' on what has happened since the end of last season. If you recall we lost our beloved Ziva who left the team to return to Mosad (Israeli intelligence) after Tony killed the man she was in love with. Did he kill him for professional or personal reasons? We don't know. Also we don't know if she is even alive since the last scene was her being tortured in the same chair that Tony himself is now sitting in. Yeh, we need an update. Oh and that comment I made a bit ago about Jethro going soft? All I can say is "One shot - one kill."