Dancing With The Stars - ABC - 8/7c

I’m not sure how Heather Mills went home before Ratzenberger.  I mean, sure, he’s got some charm, but, like Idol is a singing competition, this is a dancing competition, and Cliff can’t dance.  Tonight in a one hour, forty-five minute episode, the stars throw down a ballroom dance and a Latin dance.

24 - Day 6: 1:00 A.M. - 2:00 A.M. - FOX - 9/8c

As the clock ticks closer to the final hours of Day Six, Jack Bauer copes with the consequences of taking matters into his own hands. While Audrey endures what appears to be a post-traumatic reaction to being held captive. Emotions escalate as CTU responds to a setback and the Administration receives an alarming message from Russian President Suvarov.

So, all that Audrey can say is “Help me, Jack…don’t let them do this to me”?  Is she suffering from a post-traumatic reaction, or has she undergone some kind of brainwashing?  Answers tonight, hopefully!  Also, when we last saw the Russian president, I think we were on pretty good terms.  Looks like the next phone call may be a bit different.

Heroes - String Theory - NBC - 9/8c

If you missed last week’s online novel recap, you should probably check it out before tonight.   

I’m probably more excited about this episode than any that have come before.  Tonight, we head five years into the future.  Our heroes are treated like terrorists, Nathan Petrelli is in the White House, Mohinder is some kind of liaison between the heroes and the government, and Peter seems like some kind of super-charged Neo-like fighter.  I’m really intrigued about how Nathan will balance the secret that he is ’special’ with the fact that his people are being hunted.  Looks like a fantastic episode…check back here tomorrow for our recap of the episode.

Dancing With The Stars - ABC - 8/7c 

Clive had no place in this competition.  While the ones that have been voted off so far had no shot at winning, Clive has just been…well…terrible.  I would expect Ratzenberger to be done after tonight. 

Drive - No Turning Back - FOX - 8/7c

Drive is turning into something that I think I might be able to really enjoy.  The time we spent with Nathan Fillion’s Alex Tully in the ‘interrogation room’ last week was easily the high point.  Tonight, we should finally start to get some answers, hopefully, from the drive-in theater.

24 - Day 6: 12:00 AM - 1:00 AM - FOX - 9/8c

FOX says:

Developments involving Jack Bauer and Agent Mike Doyle have CTU operatives and analysts scrambling to gain control of an intense situation. Vice President Daniels prepares to address the country while presidential advisor Tom Lennox participates in a personnel decision that will shake things up.

Expect to see Reed Pollock (Chad Lowe), who Lennox managed to get arrested several weeks ago, back tonight.  He’s got some information that could definitely shake things up around the Palmer/Daniels administration.

The Real Wedding Crashers - Derek & Johnni - NBC - 10/9c

The premise seems simple enough…various couples’ big days are “ruined” by some amusing calamities.  In one preview, a leafblower walks right through the ceremony…in another, the preacher answers a cell phone call mid-nuptials.  I think it has potential to be somewhat amusing, and it has a great lead-in from Heroes.  Of course, Studio 60 and Black Donnelly’s had that, too, and it didn’t do much for ‘em. 

Heroes - .07% - NBC - 9/8c

So this Heroes show is coming back on tonight.  Kinda excited about that.  I rewatched Company Man and Parasite during the marathon on Saturday, and I’ve gotta say, the show gets better the second time through.  I can’t wait for the season to hit DVD so I can really sink my teeth into it.

The promos for the next few episodes really, really got me excited.  The Matrix-esque Peter was the thing that mainly stands out in my mind, though I don’t expect to see that one until next week, when we take a flash-forward to five years in the future.  Tonight, though, according to AICN, not just one, but two ‘characters we met in the very first episode meet violent deaths at Sylar’s hand’. 

The pendulum of this season of 24 has swung drastically in both directions…on one end, story lines have been obviously recycled (i.e. the storming of the foreign embassy), and on the other, the show has departed so far from the established formula that it is almost unrecognizable (Jack only being in the episode before last for about 10 minutes).  Last week saw a fantastic episode that I still hold as one of the best of the series.  Last night, we seemed to have gotten back to business as usual, and by that I mean 24-as usual, not season six-as usual. 

I expressed my concern last week that it just seemed so convenient that the Chinese would contact Jack at just the moment that he overthrew the terrorist threat.  My concerns turned out to be unfounded, though, as it turns out that the Chinese had been waiting for that exact moment all along so they could get some component or something blah blah blah… 

So now we’re back to the tried and (somewhat) true formula of 24:

• Jack’s gone rogue - check!
• Power-hungry President - check!
• Jack’s being manipulated by someone holding someone he loves - check!

I don’t mind revisiting storylines and formulas that have worked in the past.  That’s what makes a successful show.  But when you go back to the same thing over and over…I’m afraid that shows weakness.  We’ll see in the coming weeks if 24 will show us some new twists on the old ideas.

Drive - Let The Games Begin - FOX - 8/7c

I’ve gotta say, I enjoyed the heck out of last night’s episode.  Tonight should be no different, as the new show debuts in its official timeslot.  Fox says:

Legal trouble separates Alex from Corinna; John and Violet try to keep their participation a secret from loved ones; Wendy gets used to a new partner; and Winston attracts unwanted attention.

24 - Day 6: 11:00 PM to 12:00 Midnight - FOX - 9/8c

After letting it marinate for a few days, I think last week’s episode was one of my favorite of the series.  We were treated to Jack finally being Jack again, and singlehandedly taking down one of the baddest baddies we’ve seen in a while in the best fight scene I’ve seen on TV.  Then we’ve got the return of Audrey and the evil Chinese guy.  I’m really interested to see where the season will go from here out, since the main antagonist from the season is gone.

Thank God You’re Here - NBC - 9/8c

Even though it got less than stellar reviews last week, I really enjoyed TGYH last week.  Yeah, Jennifer Coolidge was no where near the level of anyone else, but I enjoy watching people out of their element, and I enjoy the think-on-your-feet feel of improv.  And tonight has Seinfield’s Jason Alexander, so that should be a blast to watch.

While I don’t know that I would say that this episode was a complete return to form for 24, it took some definite steps in the right direction…but then immediately followed them up with a possible step in the wrong direction.

• Palmer’s tough - Who’d have thought that? All season, Palmer has come across as the biggest weakling ever, and not even worthy of the title ‘President Palmer’. But he has finally put his fist down, literally, and has stepped up into his position. His future looks pretty cloudy, though, with the ongoing effects of his coma.
• Damn, Jack! - I laughed when Doyle said this, since I had said the exact same thing two minutes earlier. We’ve been sorely missing a true Jack Bauer Power Hour this year…heck, we’ve been missing Jack Bauer altogether. But tonight he let loose, and single-handedly took out several terrorists, and then took out the head honcho, Fayed, in one of the most brutally satisfying moments I’ve seen on television in a while. Damn, Jack, indeed.
• Poor timing - The Chinese have the worst/best timing I’ve ever seen. Seriously, how convenient is it that Sheng managed to call Jack just seconds after he had defeated the worst terrorist cell in the nation? There absolutely has to be a genuine excuse for the fact that the call happened when it did, otherwise, it’s just sloppy storytelling. And since [highlight: spoiler]I’ve heard that Aubrey and Jack will not end up together, this reeks of filler material, like the Logan storyline this year and the Kim cameo last year.

Anyway, like I said, it seems like 24 could be returning to form, so Fox really needs to keep this momentum up.

The24Blog went and spoiled about 95% of the entire finale of 24.  One example is:

Marilyn is back and we’re sort of led to believe that Marilyn and Jack have a shot together but this is not Jack’s fate. There’s also some question as to Josh’s real father and Jack can’t pull out a calculator to show that it’s not possible for him to be the father so he starts to get the vague idea that he might be the father. But…  

Now, this is still in the writing phase, and nothing has been shot yet, so this could change at any point.  But, still, they go pretty in-depth about exactly what’s going down, and it’s probable that this will at least closely resemble what we will see in the finale, so if you don’t want to know, stay away. 

There is a little point that I want to discuss, but, due to the heavy spoilers involved, I’ll do so after the break. Read the rest of this entry »

The goods will be over at 24trailer.com this afternoon.  Head on over and watch the countdown!!!

Rumor has it that the new season starts after the nation has been rocked by a terrorist attack that even Jack Bauer and President Palmer couldn’t stop.  What’s that you say?  President Palmer’s dead?  Oh.  That’s inconvenient.

The trailer hits around 2 p.m. Central.