Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Sutton Gets the 'Cold' Shoulder! Plus 'The Amazing Race' Spins its Wheels!

As I reported in yesterday's edition, CBS decided to drop the Josie Sutton character (Sarah Brown) from Cold Case according to a message the actress posted on her official web site. She has already filmed five episodes, so there are two remaining that haven't aired yet. According to Brown's message, the network decided that her character didn't "fit into the mix this season" (Note: I still haven't found an official confirmation from the network, but I will post it as soon as I find one). I remember reading over the summer that the character would be coming onboard, and it left me wondering why. Cold Case has always been about Lilly and her crusade with solving cold cases. According to CBS's official web site for Cold Case, the show is about "Lilly Rush (Kathryn Morris), the lone female detective who finds her niche when she's assigned 'cold cases' -- crimes that have never been solved." So, why mess with a successful formula to begin with? As it is, the existing detectives didn't have enough storylines, so adding another would only work to hinder this even further. However, they decided to add her anyway. I eventually warmed to the idea, and even found myself enjoying Josie and her possibly scandalous past. She was another well written, strong female in a male dominated profession in the same tradition as Lilly. So, I'm torn about CBS's apparent decision to pull the plug on the character. Part of me will miss her, and the other part knows it's best for the show. Last week's episode was the first this season where I felt everything was back in its correct balance, and coincidence or not, Josie had a much smaller role than she had in previous episodes. Things just haven't been the same this season - strange pairings on cases, a lack of team work, and a serious lack of Lilly - but I'm not sure if Josie is to blame or not. Since the decision has been made, I can only hope that her departure restores the show to its usual form. Either way, I'll miss Josie. I guess I'm not sure why the network would add the character just to pull the plug after a few episodes. It doesn't seem fair to Sarah Brown or Cold Case. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the show gives us more Lilly cases like last week, and all will be forgiven.

Well, last night's The Amazing Race must have made a lot of you happy. The families finally got out of those SUVs and traveled by plane and bus. Of course, they remained in the U.S., but they raced around the beautiful Charleston, South Carolina and explored the space center in Huntsville, Alabama. I know I'm in the minority, but I've been enjoying the tour of the United States because as TV Guide critic Matt Roush said, it shows that our country has interesting and fun places to visit as well. Back to last night's episode, the Paolos were their usual annoying and fighting selves, the Weavers had a slight breakdown on a long bus ride, and the Bransen's landed in first and won a lifetime of free gas for all licensed drivers. It's a sure sign that gas prices have gotten sky high when The Amazing Race is giving it as a prize! The mud bogging Detour in Charleston was a lot harder than it looked. It took the Aiello family seventeen tries to get through it. I knew the Gaghans would breeze right through on their first try because they had the two light kids. Most of the teams easily got through the space center Roadblock where they spun around in a centrifuge and experienced a force of 3-Gs. In the end, the Aiello family's hustle to the centrifuge wasn't fast enough and they ended up pulling the last number. They waited for the other two teams ahead of them to complete the task before they could begin. Despite the others' problems finding the next clues and the eventual Pitstop, the Aiellos weren't able to recover and they were eliminated from the race.

I was going to discuss last night's Law & Order: SVU, but yesterday's developing Cold Case news was too big to ignore. I will say that it was another strong outing for this show, and I thought Christopher Meloni was excellent. It must have taken a lot for his Det. Stabler to admit his rage problems and discuss the root of them - his father. Strong episode, and strong performance.

About Last Night... CBS claimed the first hour of the night with NCIS, followed by a tie between MLB coverage on Fox and NBC's The Biggest Loser. At 9, ABC won the hour with Commander In Chief, followed by The Amazing Race on CBS, and MLB coverage on Fox. The final hour of the night went to NBC with Law & Order: SVU, followed by Boston Legal on ABC, and Fox's MLB coverage. CBS's Close to Home landed in fourth. For more information on last night's ratings, visit Zap2it.

~Primetime Pass~
@8 p.m. - ABC rolls out the new Freddie Prinze Jr. comedy Freddie at 8:30. Fox's coverage of MLB continues with the Astros taking on the Cardinals in game one of the NLSC.

@9 p.m. - We delve deeper into Hurley's past while Michael, Jin, and Sawyer learn the identity of their captors and Claire finds a disturbing clue about the fate of the raft on ABC's Lost. Veronica digs up some dirt on Kendall, but she and Cassidy are shocked at what they find on Veronica Mars on UPN.

@10 p.m. -Anna Belknap joins the cast of CSI: NY tonight on CBS. A deadly flu virus highlights a new episode of Invasion on ABC.



QUICK CUTS

*Fox is airing a full hour of Arrested Development when it returns in November. The special two-episode block will feature Charlize Theron, Scott Baio, Dave Thomas, Frankie Muniz, and Bob Einstein. The back-to-back episodes air November 7th.

*And finally, it's Nielsen Wednesday. CBS once again won the war in total viewers, but ABC took the coveted 18-49 year old group again. CBS was led by CSI (#1), Without A Trace (#4), CSI: Miami (#5), Survivor: Guatemala (#7), NCIS (tie #8), and Cold Case (#11). ABC was led by Desperate Housewives (#2), Lost (#3), Grey's Anatomy (#6), and Commander In Chief (tie #8). NBC's only top 10 show was Law & Order: SVU (#10). For more on last week's ratings, visit 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.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi I just wanted to send a quick note to let you know I really enjoyed

Anonymous said...

Hi I just wanted to send a quick note to let you know I really enjoyed

Anonymous said...

I think I pretty much said, on Look Again and Source N1, everything I CAN say on the Sarah Brown issue. I think it's real stupid of whoever is responsible to wreak havoc among fans (cause that's what they did) threatening to pull in this new character, and now that people have got more or less used to her, good riddance. I know show business is fickle, but this seems downright nonsensical to me. Then again who am I to judge? I'm sorry to see her go, I liked her character, but I won't die (as I would if KM left). I hate what it's done to fans though--and fan boards. All of a sudden there's this huge gap between pro-Sarah and Sarah-bashers, people are getting childish and aggressive, and I hate that. :(