Skip to main content

TNT Raises the "Bar"

Brenda Johnson and Grace Hanadarko just got a little company.

Despite the ongoing writers strike currently putting a spanner in the works of television networks, TNT has gone ahead and ordered its first new series of the season.

In an unexpected move, the cabler has granted a ten-episode order for Raising the Bar, a legal drama from writer/executive producers Steven Bochco and David Feige.

Series, which stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar (NYPD Blue), Gloria Reuben (ER), Jane Kaczmarek (Malcolm in the Middle), Currie Graham (Men in Trees), Melissa Sagemiller (Sleeper Cell), and J. August Richards (Angel), revolves around a public defender who helps the helpless. It's scheduled to air later this year... I assume whenever the writers strike allows the series' staff to begin work.

Looks like I'm going to have to take a look at the pilot script and fast.

Stay tuned.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: CSI: New York (CBS); Chuck (NBC); Smallville (CW); Ugly Betty (ABC); Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? (FOX; 8-10 pm)

9 pm: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS); Celebrity Apprentice (NBC); Supernatural (CW); Grey's Anatomy (ABC)

10 pm: Without a Trace (CBS); Chuck (NBC); Big Shots (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

8 pm: Chuck.

Praise be Buy More! NBC's action-comedy Chuck (a Televisionary fave) returns tonight with its final two episodes of the season (unless the strike comes to an end and the crew returns to work). On the first of two brand-new episodes tonight ("Chuck Versus the Undercover Lover"), Chuck discovers that Casey's former flame is about to marry a Russian arms dealer and pushes Casey to fight for her while Ellie and Captain Awesome reach a plateau in their relationship.

8 pm: Ugly Betty.

On tonight's first-run episode ("A Thousand Words By Friday"), Betty agrees to an assignment from Daniel to interview a man she believes is an important novelist, only to learn he's written a series of books about picking up women; Daniel finds a new love interest in Renee (guest star Gabrielle Union), only to learn that they have a surprising connection to each other; Marc and Amanda plot to reach out to Gene Simmons, whom they believe to be Amanda's biological father.

8 pm: Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares on BBC America.

Season Four of the original UK Kitchen Nightmares begins tonight. On this week's installment ("Ruby Tates"), Gordon Ramsay heads to Brighton, where he attempts to save an overprice oyster bar from closing its doors forever. Will he succeed? Find out tonight. (And a hint to those with some major DVR conflicts, the episode also airs at 5 pm PT AND at 11 pm ET.)

10 pm: Chuck.

It's the second of two brand-new episodes of Chuck. On this episode ("Chuck Versus the Marlin"), Captain Awesome proposes to Ellie, Casey and Sarah learn that the CIA has been spying on them, and Chuck is moved to a holding cell in order for his protection.

Comments

Raising the Bar? Wow. I really hope that's a working title.
Anonymous said…
Decent cast. I'm thrilled to see J. August Richards' name in there. Has he done anything since Angel?

Popular posts from this blog

What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread. It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off. With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost , should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry. Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815 ? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season

Pilot Inspektor: CBS' "Smith"

I may just have to change my original "What I'll Be Watching This Fall" post, as I sat down and finally watched CBS' new crime drama Smith this weekend. (What? It's taken me a long time to make my way through the stack of pilot DVDs.) While it's on following Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars on Tuesday nights (10 pm ET/PT, to be exact), I'm going to be sure to leave enough room on my TiVo to make sure that I catch this compelling, amoral drama. While one can't help but be impressed by what might just be the most marquee-friendly cast in primetime--Ray Liotta, Virginia Madsen, Jonny Lee Miller, Amy Smart, Simon Baker, and Franky G all star and Shohreh Aghdashloo has a recurring role--the pilot's premise alone earned major points in my book: it's a crime drama from the point of view of the criminals, who engage in high-stakes heists. But don't be alarmed; it's nothing like NBC's short-lived Heist . Instead, think of it as The Italian

The Daily Beast: "How The Killing Went Wrong"

While the uproar over the U.S. version of The Killing has quieted, the show is still a pale imitation of the Danish series on which it is based. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "How The Killing Went Wrong," in which I look at how The Killing has handled itself during its second season, and compare it to the stunning and electrifying original Danish series, Forbrydelsen , on which it is based. (I recently watched all 20 episodes of Forbrydelsen over a few evenings.) The original is a mind-blowing and gut-wrenching work of genius. It’s not necessary to rehash the anger that followed in the wake of the conclusion last June of the first season of AMC’s mystery drama The Killing, based on Søren Sveistrup’s landmark Danish show Forbrydelsen, which follows the murder of a schoolgirl and its impact on the people whose lives the investigation touches upon. What followed were irate reviews, burnished with the “burning intensity of 10,000 white-hot suns