Friday, September 23, 2005

Melted Bodies in a Trunk? Flying Car? Stripper Limousines? It Must be 'CSI' Friday!

So, the networks gave us a free pass last night because, relatively speaking, it wasn't that difficult to catch all your favorites. If, however, you thought it was bad trying to navigate the glut of fabulous TV last night, well, hold on to your hats because next week is far worse! We add the season premieres of Alias, Everwood, and Without A Trace to our already crowded Thursday primetime schedule. Crazy, I know! Anyway, if you caught the premiere of CSI, then you know that it was back to business as usual. Good to have the team back together again! Oh, and Warrick (Gary Dourdan) got married??!! And Catherine's (Marg Helgenberger) jealous??!! I mean, they had a moment in the drain pipe during last season's "Down the Drain" episode, but I really didn't think that Catherine had a "fantasy" about her and Warrick together. Very interesting. Needless to say, I was surprised she told him about the end of her fantasy.

In addition to the interesting personal news, last night's episode was a three-for-one, and it marked the return and addition of Sofia (Louise Lombard). I have to be honest, I was a little hesitant about her addition to the team, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that she's a detective now. I think she'll make a nice balance to the science portion of the show. Now, to the cases. All three were very bizarre, but ended up with very simple answers. The dead cheating husband with the tires tracks on his chest and the trailer fire ended up being a simple drunk driver who lost control and sent his car airborne into the trailer, striking the gas line first and causing the explosion. The limousine stripper died because she tried to steal ten bucks from the homeless man in order to get her Mercedes out of the parking lot, and the melted bodies in the trunk of the car were a result of a drug addict wanting his supply and not getting it. The addict shot the two and put their bodies in the trunk, where they "melted" from the severe Las Vegas heat. Yuck! Now, I'm all for the campy CSI-style gross out tactics (I usually laugh), but last night's melted goo on Greg (Eric Szmanda) was too much! I'm still grossed out over that scene! Anyway, the episode was a nice start to the season. Looking ahead to the fourth episode, CSI Files has some great scoop on the upcoming episode "Shooting Stars," but be warned, the link is spoiler-filled. The episode deals with the gruesome aftermath of a cult of religious fanatics according to the site.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the hilarious Everybody Hates Chris. I watched the half-hour comedy's premiere last night, and it lived up to the critics' hype. The show is very well done. It's like watching Chris Rock's side-splitting stand-up come to life through the work of a terrific cast. Tyler James Williams, as Chris, is fabulous! Rock's narration cracked me up, especially the part where he talked about his father knowing the price of everything (When the milk spills, he says, "That's 49-cents worth of milk. Somebody's gonna drink this!"). Besides the funny lines, the show has a lot of heart. The characters are very likeable, and you find yourself rooting for all of them from the beginning. They keep saying that this is the year of the comedy, and if Chris is any indication, then it seems they're right.

About Last Night... CBS once again ruled the roost on Thursday night. Survivor easily won the 8 o'clock hour, followed by a repeat of Dancing With the Star: Dance-Off on ABC. But the big story of the hour belongs to UPN. The premiere of Everybody Hates Chris virtually tied NBC's third place Joey in total viewers from 8-8:30 p.m. UPN's 8:30 premiere Love, Inc didn't fare as well, so UPN took fifth overall for the hour behind Fox's The O.C. CBS took the 9 o'clock hour as well with the premiere of CSI (the night's most watched show), followed by NBC's The Apprentice (which suffered its worst opening ever). ABC landed in third with the results show for Dance-Off and the first half-hour of Primetime, and Fox once again landed in fourth with Reunion. At 10 p.m., CBS's new show Criminal Minds walked away with the win, followed by ER on NBC, and ABC's Primetime. For more information on last night's ratings, visit Zap2it.

Premiering Tonight!!! CBS rolls out Ghost Whisperer and the second season premiere of Numbers starting at 8 p.m. Over at NBC, it's the premiere of Dateline, and the debut of Three Wishes and the fertility drama Inconceivable. ABC premieres it reality show Supernanny and comedy Hope & Faith. Finally, Fox rolls out comedies The Bernie Mac Show and Malcolm In the Middle, followed by the new cop show Killer Instinct.

Premiering Sunday!!! This is going to be a crazy night, so I'm going to go network-by-network.

CBS: It's the third season premiere of Cold Case at 8 p.m. EDT (although football might delay the start, so be sure to allow extra tape just in case). Lilly (Kathryn Morris) and the team reopen the 1988 case of a teenager who died the same night his child was born. Also, look for Sarah Brown to join the cast as a new detective.

NBC: The West Wing moves to its new night and time with its 7th season premiere, followed by Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Crossing Jordan.

ABC: There's a special two-hour premiere of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, followed by the much anticipated second season premiere of Desperate Housewives, which according to star Teri Hatcher picks up exactly where we left off, and the night closes with the premiere of last year's hit medical drama Grey's Anatomy.

WB: Charmed kicks off its new season, followed by the premiere of the sketch-comedy show Blue Collar TV.

HBO: The cable channel rolls out another season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, followed by the debut of Extras.



QUICK CUTS

*Fox is announcing the first casualty of the new fall season. The legal drama/comedy Head Cases is done. The network canceled the low-rated series after two episodes. Fox will run new episodes of Nanny 911 in its place until the MLB Playoffs start up next month. Head Cases starred Chris O'Donnell and Adam Goldberg as mismatched lawyers.

*John O'Hurley and his partner Charlotte Jorgensen are the winners of ABC's Dancing With the Stars: Dance-Off. Viewers voted between O'Hurley and soap star Kelly Monaco based on their performances the other night. The judges gave their scores, but only the viewers votes counted for the final tally, which came down to a one percent difference between the two teams.

*And finally, the final numbers are in for Wednesday's premieres of Lost and Invasion on ABC. Lost found 23 million viewers and Invasion finished with a staggering 16.8 million according to TV Guide. On the flip side, Martha Stewart's version of The Apprentice managed only 7.6 million viewers. Proving that Martha in primetime is not such a good thing.

That's all for today. Be sure to tune in Monday for my thoughts on the Cold Case (Will we like the new girl?) and Desperate Housewives premieres. And as always, all the latest television news!

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