“The Chopping Block”
Wednesday 8pm, NBC
This cooking competition is essentially a pastiche of several previously existing reality shows. From “The Restaurant,” we get the premise of examining what goes into opening a restaurant in New York City, but in this case it’s two competing, neighboring restaurants. From “Hell’s Kitchen,” we get the overbearing British chef (Marco Pierre White, master chef and former mentor to Gordon Ramsay) who oversees the proceedings and demoralizes the cooking staff before sending the poor bastards home. And finally, from “The Amazing Race,” we get the twist that the two teams are composed of four couples of varying restaurant backgrounds. It’s that last part that leaves me perplexed; what do couples have to do with restaurants?
“Kings”
Sunday 10pm, NBC
This imaginative new drama uses the biblical story of King David as inspiration, and lots of really obvious metaphors to hammer home the point. Ian McShane—formerly the potty-mouthed Al Swearengen on HBO’s much-missed “Deadwood”—stars as King Silas Benjamin, monarch of the modern-day country Gilboa, whose son is taken as a prisoner of war by a rival country. A young soldier (Chris Egan, Eragon) defies orders and ends up bringing the prince home, and instantly becomes entangled in the political, social and romantic intrigues that have defined ruling courts since basically forever. The show is generating buzz for its ballsy attempts at doing something over-the-top, but still remaining grounded in solid writing and acting, so let’s see if viewers take notice.
“Eastbound & Down”
Sunday 10:30pm, HBO
We’re now halfway through the first season of this new comedy produced by the Funny or Die team of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. The increasingly omnipresent Danny McBride (Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder, Hot Rod, Land of the Lost) stars as Kenny Powers, a former pro baseball player who is humiliated, shamed and forced to go back to his tiny hometown and become a substitute gym teacher. But rather than tell the heartwarming tale of a modern American hero who finds redemption by going back to his roots, the show tells the much more honest story of an oblivious jackass who wants an easy way back to a glamorous life he doesn’t deserve. McBride is spot on as the fallen star jock; look for a be-wigged Ferrell in a recurring supporting role as a shyster car salesman.
