THE TV COLUMN : SEC bounces Lost; The Shield back for 5th season
Posted on Tuesday, January 10, 2006
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Style/142214/
This gets complicated, so pay close attention.
First the good news.
Lost finally returns with two episodes beginning Wednesday at 7 p. m. The first is a compilation episode to catch viewers up since the show’s been off for a while. The 8 p. m. offering will be a fresh, all-new regular episode never before seen.
The bad news is if you watch Lost on KATV, you’ll get SEC basketball instead.
Alabama and Auburn fans will be happy, but Lost fans will be fuming.
Channel 7 has done its best to please both audiences while keeping the ABC mothership happy and fulfilling all its contractual obligations.
Lost fans will get to see their show. It’ll be late, late at night unless they record it for viewing at a more convenient time.
Wednesday’s 7 p. m. compilation episode will air after Jimmy Kimmel at 12 : 35 a. m. Thursday morning (considered Wednesday late night in the TV biz ). Wednesday’s all-new 8 p. m. episode will air at 12 : 35 a. m. Friday morning.
Set your VCRs and DVRs accordingly.
Wait. It gets more complicated.
On Jan. 18 ABC plans to air this week’s new 8 p. m. episode at 7 p. m. followed by an all-new episode at 8. KATV will air the Jan. 18 new (8 p. m. ) episode at 12 : 35 a. m. Jan 19 after Kimmel.
That’s KATV’s Lost plan beginning Jan. 18 — that week’s new episode will air that same TV cycle night at 12 : 35 a. m.
According to KATV programmer Richard Farrester, Channel 7 has taken steps to keep the fans of Invasion happy as well.
Invasion follows Lost at 9 p. m. Wednesday. If a basketball game runs long, Channel 7 will air Invasion in its entirety and push the 10 p. m. news back.
Should that happen, Raymond will absorb the cuts at 10 : 30, meaning Nightline will start on time, Kimmel will start on time, and the delayed Lost episode will start on time at 12 : 35 a. m.
Is all that clear ?
Put your paper away and get out a pencil for a pop quiz. The Shield, 9 p. m. today, (FX ). Series returns.
Fans of The Shield are in tall cotton today. Their fast-paced adult cop drama returns for a fifth season at 9 p. m.
And, naturally, the usual TV watchdog outfits are roiling because the gritty, frequently profane and usually raw series is on basic cable where young, innocent eyes may accidentally stumble upon it on their way to the Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.
Solution : Use your TV’s V chip to block FX. Keep the TV out of your kid’s room. Be aware of what they are watching at 9 p. m. Or simply keep it turned off after 9.
However, if you enjoy crisply written, brilliantly acted, riveting adult drama, The Shield has all that to offer. The program won the 2003 Golden Globe for Best Drama, and has received Emmy nominations for writing and directing.
Series star Michael Chiklis won the 2002 Emmy for best dramatic actor.
Just don’t go into the show blind and claim to be shocked. This is adult fare. It’s rated TVMA for mature audiences and will carry sub-ratings on certain episodes of V, S and / or L for graphic violence, explicit sexual activity or crude / indecent language.
But none of that alphabet soup is gratuitous as is some premium channel fare. The Shield is organic. It’s a natural part of the seamy underworld these cops inhabit.
The “hero” of the series is Det. Vic Mackey, played with marvelous moral ambiguity by Chiklis. Mackey heads the Strike Team, an outfit of corrupt detectives who stomp out crime but don’t mind breaking a few rules (or lining their own pockets ) along the way.
All the cast regulars have returned and Paula Garces has joined the series as the hot chica rookie, Officer Tina Hanlon. David Marciano is the inept newly promoted Captain Steve Billings.
Most important, actor / director Forest Whitaker has joined the cast as Internal Affairs Division attack dog, Lt. Jon Kavanaugh. Whitaker replaces Glenn Close as this season’s big name star. Kavanaugh is out to nail Mackey by any means necessary.
The new season starts off with a bang. Literally. There’s a race war between blacks and Hispanics, a riot at the local high school with stabbings and gunplay. Meanwhile, Mackey is offered early retirement. It isn’t subtle. South Beach, 7 p. m., Wednesday (UPN ). New series.
This show stinks even though Jennifer Lopez is an executive producer. Maybe it stinks because Lopez is a producer.
Sure. I enjoy watching hot babes in bikinis and guys with six-pack abs stroll on the beach as much as the next TV critic. But there’s got to be some acting going on or you’re going to lose me after the first episode.
This series follows two young, hunky guys (Marcus Coloma, Chris Johnson ) from Brooklyn to Miami where they get jobs and immerse themselves in the white light and pastel hues of Miami.
There are fist fights, cokesnorting supermodels, lost love, snarling tough guys spouting cliches and other trite stuff.
Watch it if you have nothing else to do. On second thought, if you have nothing else to do, do that. The TV column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail : mstorey@arkansasonline. com