'Medium' Crosses into Another Dimension! What Other Shows should go 3-D? Plus, Primetime Pass!

So, the much-hyped, much-talked about 3-D episode of Medium has come and gone. The thing about sweeps stunts is that they rarely ever live up to the hype that surrounds them. They also tend to be extremely "stunty" without any substance at all. Take last night's much-hyped death on NBC's Las Vegas. I'm not a regular viewer of this show, but I do tend to catch an episode or two from time to time. I decided to tune in last night to catch the "shocking death of a major character" (I told you I had "sucker" written on my forehead!), and the entire thing was completely silly, even for this show. In case you missed it (and be glad you did), Lara Flynn Boyle's character was standing on top of the Montecito in a ridiculous dress that actually contained wing-like fabric on its sleeves (this alone made the scene unbearable). A predictable huge gust of wind came along and blew her off the roof in a scene that was reminiscent, but far less cool, of one of the shocking scenes from The Forgotten. The scene was literally blown out of proportion and so was the hyped death. The same holds true for so many of these ratings stunts that networks pull this time of year. Keeping this in mind, I cautiously approached last night's 3-D stunt on Medium.

I'm not sure any other show on television could have pulled off what Medium did last night. It managed to make the 3-D trick work, and work well, without sacrificing plot, character or integrity, which are usually the first things to go in sweeps stunts. Not only that, but the 3-D actually made sense! I know it's hard to imagine, but it did. The show normally takes viewers into another world, the one inside Allison's head. We see the visions that she sees, and we try to make sense of them just as she does. Last night was no exception as she worked to solve the murder of a young woman whose blood was found all over the walls of a public restroom. The crime scene led her to an art gallery, and the paintings led her to the answers. The 3-D came in when Allison viewed the paintings by one particular artist, the son of a wealthy businessman. Through the paintings, Allison and the viewers (via 3-D) watched the brutal murder scene unfold. The only problem was that it wasn't the young girl's murder, but her mother's. Turns out the wealthy business man killed her mother in 1982 and took her son to raise as his own (in order to get a cut of his wife's fortune) after learning that his son was infected with the AIDS virus that the baby received from his AIDS-infected mother. The daughter was killed in present day presumably because she learned the truth. Sure, there were the usual 3-D tricks (knife handle sticking out, paint pouring on the screen, etc), but what would a 3-D episode be without them? One of the coolest tricks came when the killer threw a butcher knife at the victim and it soared through the air at a fast pace right at the viewer. It made me jump! It was a nice touch to have Rod Serling introduce the episode. Wouldn't it be awesome if this show did a future episode that paid homage to The Twilight Zone? I'd love to see that!

Watching the special 3-D episode of Medium got me thinking about others show that could possibly pull this trick off. As I said above, I don't think there are any that could pull it off as well, but there are some that could probably do a decent job without being too gimmicky. Here's a list of a few shows that I think could pull it off:

Surface - The underwater scenes, like in last night's sunken submersible episode, could benefit from the 3-D effect. How creepy would those creatures be in 3-D too?

Prison Break - Can you imagine the great escape in 3-D??? How great would that be!

Lost - The hatch, jungle and action scenes would all be even more intense in 3-D. Can you imagine "The Others" running toward you?!

Alias - Syd (and now Rachel) has some awesome kick butt scenes that would work well for 3-D.

Those are the shows that top my list. What shows do you think could pull off a 3-D episode? Be sure to leave a comment with your thoughts.

About Last Night... ABC won the first hour of the night with Wife Swap (football on the West Coast), followed by CBS comedies King of Queens and How I Met Your Mother and NBC's Surface. At 9, ABC stayed on top with Monday Night Football, followed by CBS comedies Two and a Half Men and Out of Practice and Las Vegas on NBC. The final hour of the night went to CBS's CSI: Miami, followed by football on ABC and Medium on NBC. For more on last night's ratings, visit Zap2it.

~Primetime Pass~
@8 p.m. - Carole King guest stars on a new episode of WB's Gilmore Girls as Lorelai and Rory celebrate Thanksgiving. Over on Fox, Brennan and Booth help a death row inmate who makes a last minute appeal for their help on Bones. ABC kicks off its 3-hour coverage of the 33rd Annual American Music Awards with performances by Mariah Carey, Kenny Chesney, Sheryl Crow, Hilary Duff, Lindsay Lohan, Rob Thomas, Tim McGraw, The Rolling Stones and many others.

@9 p.m. - Teams receive a clue from an unlikely messenger on the 100th episode of CBS's The Amazing Race. Over on Fox, an AIDS patient begs House to take his case and Cameron faces a health scare of her own on House. Beau Bridges guest stars as Earl's father on NBC's My Name is Earl as Earl works to cross "cost Dad the election" off his list.

@10 p.m. - Annie Potts, Fred Thompson and Judith Light guest star on NBC's Law & Order: SVU. The detectives work a case involving a young girl who went for an abortion and wound up beaten so badly she lost her baby. Over on CBS, Threshold tries out a new night and time as Elizabeth Berkley guest stars as one of three women who show signs of infection.


QUICK CUTS

*CBS is staying close to Close to Home and it's giving it a permanent timeslot. The eye network gave the Jerry Bruckheimer show a full season order and its current Friday night slot where it has flourished since the network moved it there two weeks ago. The show stars Jennifer Finnigan as a suburban prosecutor. CBS has not announced a decision on the timeslot's former owner Threshold. Also on the good news front, NBC renewed The Biggest Loser for another season.

*Actor James Woods is checking into NBC's ER for a guest appearance on the medical drama. He'll play a patient suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease, who's also Abby Lockhart's former professor. Look for the Oscar-nominated actor's episode to air February 2nd on NBC.

*And finally, Survivor and The Amazing Race alum Rob Mariano, a.k.a Boston Rob, is joining CBS's Early Show. He'll have his own segment called "Rob to the Rescue," where the reality show veteran will travel to different towns to help people in need. The segment is a departure from Mariano's former conniving reality persona. Boston Rob's first appearance on the morning show will air November 22nd.

That's all for today and this week. I'm off the rest of the week for the Thanksgiving holiday. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Plenty of your favorite shows are airing new episodes this week like Sunday's Cold Case which features a chilling case involving a dead four year old and written by one of the show's best writers Veena Sud (pack your hankies!). There's also Veronica Mars on Wednesday with the return of Tina Majorino! Lost is also featuring a new episode Wednesday night, and the tailies and Sayid merge! That's just a few of this week's offerings, so be sure to put your TiVos and VCRs to good use while you spend time with your families and friends! I'll be back next week with plenty of television news, Cold Case, and a wrap up of this week's best episodes! Be sure to tune in then!