What is up with the icky family relationship episodes this week? Is it Inappropriate Family Relationships Awareness Week and I missed the memo? First, we had that vomit-inducing sexual relationship between a confused college coed and her sicko father on Law & Order: SVU, and now we have CSI's take on a family that's a little too close. In the latter, the mother and daughter relationship was a little strained after the daughter (Bianca) learned that her mother (Chelsea) was borrowing more than her tight, black clubbing dress. It seems Mom had a little too much Ecstasy and wound up sleeping with her daughter's boyfriend. Although Bianca was a little upset when she walked in on mommy dearest and her man (and who wouldn't be a little upset, really?), she seemed to get over it really fast because she told her boyfriend that they should move to Colorado together and live in her wealthy father's cabin. Unless the girl was planning on taking him to the cabin and shooting him, I really thought it was a bit of a stretch to think she would have been over the whole you-slept-with-my-mother thing, but it was necessary in order to set up the motive for his eventual murder. Which brings me to the telephone repair man, who went all Fatal Attraction on Bianca with the help of her mother. It turns out mommy was a little jealous of her daughter, so she hired telephone man to chase the men away. So, the moral of the story is a family that goes clubbing together, doesn't stay together.
I found the second murder story to be very confusing. Too much time has passed between Nick's abduction in last season's finale for me to remember all the nitty-gritty details. Plus, isn't Vegas a decent sized city? What are the chances Nick would end up investigating the murder of a woman who was involved in his kidnapping? It all seemed too coincidental to me, but I guess that book is now closed. Just a quick note about next week's episode, can you believe they got Faye Dunaway to guest star??? Faye freakin' Dunaway of Chinatown and Bonnie and Clyde fame! First Quentin Tarantino, and now this!
I'm having a hard time deciding whether or not I liked the missing person last night on Without a Trace. Since she went missing not on her own accord she gets a sympathy point, but her cheating romps with a skeevy ex take the point away. She gets one back for turning the gun on said skeevy ex/kidnapper, but I'm going to have to take it away for the sheer fact that she dated the loser in the first place, which set her whole kidnapping into motion. So as you can see, I'm torn. I did love the irony that this woman was a therapist, and yet, she needed one of her own more than most people. She did have one and she seemed to be turning a corner with her commitment issues, but the girl still has a long way to go. Speaking of having a long way to go, what is Martin thinking? And why is an excellent show like this going down the popping pills road, which is so well traveled by characters on television that I'm sure its formal name is Cliche Lane! I guess every season (except the first) has to have one overused and tired storyline in it, and this season's is Martin's prescription drug addiction. Does everyone who goes on pain meds end up addicted to them? It seems that way based on television. Anyway, I figure he has to hit bottom soon (and may have last night when he stole the pills from our missing person's bathroom), so this storyline can't last too much longer.
About Last Night... ABC opened the night on top with Dancing with the Stars, followed by a CSI rerun on CBS and NBC comedies Will & Grace and Four Kings. At 9, CBS took the lead with CSI, followed by ABC's combination of the last half hour of Dancing and Crumbs and NBC comedies My Name is Earl and The Office. The final hour of the night went to CBS's Without a Trace, followed by NBC's ER (r) and ABC's Primetime. For more on last night's ratings, visit Zap2it.
~Primetime Pass~
@8 p.m. - We find out which team is the next to be eliminated on the now extended 1-hour addition of the Dancing with the Stars results show on ABC.
@9 p.m. - Conti works to free a 15 year old boy convicted of killing his sister on ABC's In Justice.
@10 p.m. - Reverend Daniel Webster is forced to draw a hard line with his son after he gets detained by the headmistress in NBC's Book of Daniel.
SUNDAY EDITION
@8 p.m. - Bartlet faces his biggest challenge in office yet when a nuclear emergency develops in California on NBC's The West Wing.
@9 p.m. - Gabby and Sister Mary Bernard get into a full-fledged war and Tom gets a job at Parcher & Murphy on ABC's Desperate Housewives.
@10 p.m. - Jordan and Woody investigate the murder of a military officer, but find themselves in the middle of a corporate cover-up on NBC's Crossing Jordan. Over on ABC, Meredith and Cristina lie to each other about their respective relationships on ABC's Grey's Anatomy.
QUICK CUTS
*Actress Maria Conchita Alonso will guest star on ABC's Desperate Housewives. She'll play Gabby's (Eva Longoria) mother, who drops into Wisteria Lane unexpectedly after leaving her latest husband. The episode is tentatively scheduled for February 19th on ABC.
*And finally, this week's premiere episodes of Fox's American Idol scored some of the show's largest audiences to date. More than 35 million people tuned in for Tuesday's premiere, and more than 31 million stuck around for Wednesday's continuation of the audition phase of the show. Wednesday's episode gave a huge boost to Skating with Celebrities, which opened with more than 18 million viewers following Idol. That show moves to its normal timeslot on Monday. Overall, Tuesday's outing was the second most watched episode in the series' history, lagging behind only the second season finale that revealed Ruben Studdard as the new American Idol over runner-up Clay Aiken. American Idol airs Tuesdays and Wednesdays on Fox.
That's all for today. Be sure to tune in Monday for Desperate Housewives (Holy catfight!) and a preview of your favorite UPN shows' February sweeps plans (yes, it's getting to be that time already!). Plus, all the latest television news!
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1 comment:
Oh no. Cliché Lane, you're so right about that. The popping pills thing is as old as the hills... almost as old as sexual tension between 2 partners and their subsequent (sp?) relationship. Ick. I'm sorry WaT's taken that road. I actually liked Scotty's downfall on CC much better. Alcohol and rebound flings are actually quite prevalent, I'd say.
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