Wednesday, October 05, 2005

'The Amazing Race' Further Explores the East Coast. Plus, an Intense 'SVU'

There are two reflecting pools in our nation's capitol. Too bad, most of the teams on last night's The Amazing Race didn't realize this little fact. And here I was thinking that staying in the U.S. (and the east coast only so far) was way too easy! What was up with the Gaghan family? Are they too proud to ask someone about the reflecting pool, or just too convinced that they know all? They spent more than two hours at one pool. And why didn't anyone realize that the Capitol Building wasn't at one end of the reflecting pool where they were looking for the clue box?? I loved the member of the Aiello family who went on and on about how well he knew D.C. (a kiss of death on The Amazing Race), but directed his team to the wrong one! I guess most of these teams weren't reading the clue correctly because it clearly stated that they needed to be at the pool with the Capitol Building. One of the teams I liked, the Rogers, got eliminated because they made too many mistakes. I thought something was up when the son (who was driving) correctly repeated the directions that his father gave him and they captioned it on the screen and we got The Amazing Race "uh-oh!" This is when the video slows down a bit, so we'll stop and take notice of a team's obvious mistake. I just couldn't figure out what happened - oh, 83 West, not East. It's totally counter-intuitive so it would have tripped me up too, which is why they needed someone more map-savvy. Speaking of maps, I think the Linz family had the mother of all maps last night. I mean, they went from like 8th to 2nd in one short car trip. They were cruising along back roads while the other teams sat in traffic on the interstate. Awesome navigation! The Paolos were just as loud and obnoxious as usual, so I was so hoping they would run out of gas, but alas, they did not. It came down to them and the Rogers, and the Rogers just couldn't get their hurricane lamps lit fast enough. So, we're in for at least one more week of Paolo bickering, and from the looks of it, more views of the U.S.A.

NBC really hyped last night's episode of Law & Order: SVU, so I wasn't sure if it would live up to all that hype. But, it was excellent! Certainly one of the show's best outings, and that's saying a lot for a series that tends to pump out first rate episodes consistently. Mariska Hargitay was incredible. She gave us just the right emotion for every turn of events. How many people thought the girl was a scam? I seriously didn't believe her until Cragen handed Olivia the picture of Maria at her birthday party. Then the caller described what she was wearing at that party, so I knew the caller had to be Maria. I was so happy when Olivia really gave it to that creepy child pornographer/molester/rapist. First she forced him down on the bed, and then she elbowed him right in the nose! It was pretty intense for a few moments when Olivia and Fin were digging looking for Maria and they found her not breathing. I thought she was dead, but Olivia's quick CPR action saved her. Overall, an intense and very well done episode!

About Last Night... CBS claimed the first hour of the night with a win for NCIS, followed by The Biggest Loser on NBC, and MLB coverage on Fox. At 9, ABC moved to the front of the pack with Commander In Chief, followed by CBS's The Amazing Race, and NBC's comedy hour of My Name Is Earl and The Office landed in third. The final hour of the night belonged to NBC's Law & Order: SVU, followed by Boston Legal on ABC. The premiere of Close to Home finished in third for CBS. For more information on last night's ratings, visit Zap2it.

~Primetime Pass~

@8 p.m. - It's the premieres of George Lopez on ABC and One Tree Hill on the WB. On NBC, E-Ring switches to its new time.

@9 p.m. - The WB rolls out its new sister drama Related starring Jennifer Esposito and from the creators of Friends. Locke, Kate, and Jack uncover more information on the mysterious hatch while Jin, Sawyer, and Michael deal with their captors on Lost. Now, last week you guys tuned into Veronica Mars, and the show got it's best numbers ever. We need to keep this momentum going people. As I said last week, record, tape, TiVo, whatever, Lost, and watch Veronica Mars!! You can always watch Lost at 10 p.m. Both shows are so terrific, that it seriously would be a crime to miss either. Anyway, Charisma Carpenter joins the cast tonight as Veronica works to help a family member rule out suicide in the wake of a tragedy in Neptune.

@10 p.m - Russell and Mariel suffer a tragedy, Larkin investigates the military presence, and Dave investigates a lost piece of jewelry on Invasion.


QUICK CUTS


*Good news for some new comedies today. NBC decided to order a full season of My Name is Earl and UPN is picking up the Chris Rock comedy Everybody Hates Chris for a full season as well. Earl has been performing well in its competitive Tuesday night slot, and it has the distinguished honor of being named the most watched new comedy so far. Chris is UPN's most watched comedy ever, and manages to garner strong ratings amid tough competition on Thursdays nights. Both shows are single-camera shoots with no laugh track in the same tradition of Scrubs and Arrested Development.

*Desperate Housewives fans in Southern California will get another chance to catch last week's episode per TV Guide. A technical glitch caused the program to be broadcast in Spanish to about 175,000 people in the area. Look for the English version to air this Saturday night at 10 p.m. Pacific.

*And finally, it's Nielsen Wednesday. CBS and ABC split the week, with CBS garnering the most viewers and ABC taking the 18-49 year old crown. CBS was led by CSI (#1), Without A Trace (#4), CSI: Miami (#6), Survivor: Guatemala (#7), and Cold Case (#8). Desperate Housewives (#2) set the pace at ABC, followed by Lost (#3), Grey's Anatomy (#5), and Commander In Chief (#9). NBC's best showing was with Law & Order: SVU (#10). For more on last week's Top 20 programs, click on over to USA Today.

That's all for today. Be sure to tune in tomorrow for Lost and another edition of Primetime Pass! Plus, all the latest television news. Feel free to leave a comment about last night's programs as well!

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