“Face Off” Wednesday 10pm, Syfy Remember back in the day when shows like “Project Runway” and “Top Chef” would amaze you every week with the creativity and ingenuity of the contestants? Those old dogs occasionally find some new tricks, but for the most part it’s all gotten a bit rote. This fairly new reality competition […]
“Cougar Town” Tuesday 8:30pm, ABC Things are not looking good for our favorite penny can enthusiasts. “Cougar Town” got off to a rough start, bedeviled by that controversial name and a first season that struggled to find its voice, like so many sitcoms. The second season was utterly hilarious, and for me inspired way more […]
“The River” Tuesday 9pm, ABC You might recognize the name Oren Pell if you’re a fan of the Paranormal Activity series of films. Inspired by The Blair Witch Project, writer-director Pell took a modest budget and made a fortune out of “found-footage” film. He’s taking a similar approach with this new drama/horror series about a […]
“I Just Want My Pants Back” Thursday 11pm, MTV They may act like they’re too cool for it, but hipsters need love too. Thus this new so-clever-it-hurts sitcom. The attention-grabbing title stems from lead character Jason (Peter Vack, basically an amalgam of Owen and Luke Wilson), whose favorite pair of jeans go missing after a one-night […]
“Touch” Wednesday 9pm, Fox Kiefer Sutherland returns to television with this new drama-mystery from the mind of Tim Kring. You might recognize that name as the creator of NBC’s “Heroes,” which could be a good thing if this turns out like “Heroes” Season 1, or a terrible thing if it turns out like any other […]
“American Idol” Wednesday-Thursday 8pm, Fox Last year’s 10th season taught us several lessons. The most important is that, yes, the show can exist just fine without Simon Cowell, as the infusion of Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez made the competition feel fresh for the first time in years. Shaking things up genre-wise is also […]
“Dance Moms” Tuesday 9pm, Lifetime The surprise hit from last summer returns for Season 2, and it will be interesting to see what has changed now that some of these women have seen their deplorable actions broadcast via reality TV editors. “Dance Moms” follows Abby Lee Miller, a purportedly world-renowned dance instructor and coach to […]
“Project Runway: All Stars” Thursday 9pm, Lifetime The good news: 13 of the most beloved and/or memorable contestants from “Project Runway” seasons past are back for a second chance. We’re talking Season 1’s Austin Scarlett (now with an unfortunate pornstache), Season 4’s Sweet P, Season 8’s Michael Costello, and Season 5’s Kenley Collins, for my […]
New Year’s Eve specials There are so many NYE specials, and honestly, they’re all pretty similar: annoying host, fame-whore cameos, ball countdown, and some questionable live music performances. Here’s a rundown of the major entries: the venerable “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” will air on ABC starting at 10pm, preceded by a two-hour special […]
“Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” Friday 8pm, BBC America You read C-VILLE Weekly, so obviously you are intelligent, witty, and urbane. So I’m sure you already know all about “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!”; National Public Radio has been broadcasting the news-panel game show for more than a decade. Host Peter Sagal corrals a group […]