WATCH-O-RAMA HIGHLIGHTS AND LOWLIGHTS OF THE COMING TV WEEK.Byline: David Kronke ``24'' (Fox Channel 11; 8 tonight and Monday; thereafter, 9 p.m. Mondays) Think: The first four hours of Jack Bauer's (Kiefer Sutherland) fourth incredibly grueling day debut this week, with attacks on a commuter train and the Internet tied to a Middle-Eastern family: ``What we will accomplish today will change the world,'' the father (Nestor Serrano) tells his son (Jonathan Ahdout), smiling meaningfully at his wife (Oscar nominee Shohreh Agdashloo). And, in an echo of one of last season's goofier subplots, Jack is hesitant to tell his new boss, the secretary of defense (William Devane), that he's cozy with the guy's daughter (Kim Raver); further mayhem temporarily tables that conundrum. Don't think: But of course - Jack has to work closely with the agent (Alberta Watson) who fired him from CTU CTU Colorado Technical University CTU Czech Technical University in Prague CTU Counter Terrorist Unit CTU Clinical Trials Unit CTU Catholic Theological Union CTU Chicago Teachers Union CTU Computer Training Unit CTU Control Unit - how many times must Jack's colleagues distrust him despite his past successes? Must be those shifty eyes and that insistence on working outside the system. And those ``real- time'' journeys across traffic-clogged Los Angeles have virtually disappeared - every drive takes only until the next scene. In a nutshell: Doesn't quite open with the same crazed urgency that made previous seasons at least initially addictive. And the sloppy plotting that drives some fans nuts starts earlier this season. ``Zoey 101'' (Nickelodeon; 8 tonight; 8:30 p.m. Thursday) Think: Jamie Lynn Spears This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. (Britney's younger, less appalling sibling) stars as a tween coed with annoying pals who, given that they're attending a former boys-only beachside beach·side adj. Situated on or along a beach. boarding school, have lots of surfer-hunks to ogle o·gle v. o·gled, o·gling, o·gles v.tr. 1. To stare at. 2. To stare at impertinently, flirtatiously, or amorously. v.intr. . Don't think: ``She's as good an actor as her sister,'' opined my 11-year-old stepdaughter, no fan of ``Crossroads.'' In a nutshell: Comedy Screenwriting 101 might come in handy Verb 1. come in handy - be useful for a certain purpose be - have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun); "John is rich"; "This is not a good answer" here. ``He Knew He Was Right'' (KCET KCET Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo (Japan) KCET Kamaraj College of Engineering and Technology ; 9 tonight and Jan. 16) Think: Louis Trevelyan (Oliver Dimsdale) fears wife Emily (Laura Fraser) is dallying with the colorful Col. Osbourne (Bill Nighy), who cheekily does little to alter his opinion, but it's his jealousy that drives his wife away. That, and a whole slew of subplots drive this adaptation of Anthony Trollope's thousand-page 1869 novel. Don't think: ``When women can't keep themselves from idle talking with strange gentlemen, they are very far gone on their way to the devil,'' sniffs a brittle matron, underscoring how the classics manage to remain vital through the decades. In a nutshell: Very much a predictable corseted melodrama, with such cheesy devices as characters directly addressing the camera as they empty the contents of their tormented hearts. Leavened leav·en n. 1. An agent, such as yeast, that causes batter or dough to rise, especially by fermentation. 2. An element, influence, or agent that works subtly to lighten, enliven, or modify a whole. tr.v. somewhat by Nighy playing the sort of wicked character for which he's become justly famous. ``Carnivale'' (HBO Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) A form of oxygen therapy in which the patient breathes oxygen in a pressurized chamber. Mentioned in: Ozone Therapy ; 9 tonight) Think: Second-season premiere of the atmosphere-drenched drama about the sorry souls of a Depression-era, Dust Bowl traveling carnival, including mysterious healer Ben (Nick Stahl) and Justin (Clancy Brown), a loosely related religious zealot. Both, for their own reasons, seek Ben's father, Scudder (John Savage). Don't think: The show where nothing happened all last year. Plot progression is as elusive as Carnivale's ``management.'' In a nutshell: At least three heavily symbolic dream sequences and much narrative wheel-spinning in tonight's episode suggests that, promises from creator Daniel Knauf notwithstanding, things won't get much more eventful this season, though baby steps are taken toward Ben and Justin's inevitable blowout involving the fate of, yes, the known universe hanging in the balance. ``Unscripted'' (HBO; 10 tonight) Think: Executive producers Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney offer an semi-improvised series about Krista Allen, Bryan Greenberg and Jennifer Hall, real struggling actors ``playing'' themselves. Don't think: Eventually, Hollywood will realize that viewers just aren't interested in the entertainment industry's inner workings, no matter how evisceratingly honest or, in this case, prosaic. In a nutshell: The West-Coast version of ``K Street,'' Soderbergh and Clooney's equally indulgent, semi-coherent and short-lived HBO series on Washington lobbyists. Hey, guys - don't be afraid to hire a writer now and again. ``Boston Legal'' (ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. Channel 7; 10 tonight) Think: Candice Bergen joins the cast (at least temporarily) as a powerful, formidable antagonist for Alan Shore (James Spader) and Denny Crane (William Shatner). Don't think: Crane actually tells her, ``This firm isn't big enough for the both of us,'' and so it seems - how many nut jobs and attitudinal quipsters can one law firm stand, anyway? In a nutshell: The highlight is Shore's trademark-wriggly involvement in an attempted matricide mat·ri·cide n. The act of killing one's mother. mat  ri·cid al adj. . Preachy preach·y adj. preach·i·er, preach·i·est Inclined or given to tedious and excessive moralizing; didactic. preach Sudanese-genocide subplot, though. ``American Dream Derby'' (GSN GSN Game Show Network GSN GCOS Surface Network GSN Gelsolin GSN Global Seismic Network GSN Government Security News GSN Gigabyte System Network (CERN) GSN GPRS Support Node (3GPP) ; 9 p.m. Monday) Think: A dozen contestants participate in a series of competitions that, eventually, will net them a potential stable of racehorses and money to keep their feed bags filled. Don't think: An attempt to rescue a genre that, based on recent efforts, deserves a trip to the glue factory. In a nutshell: A noble effort to put an interesting spin on the reality genre, and the contestants seem, refreshingly, a more genial group than most. Yet in the end, despite the change of venue A change of venue is the legal term for moving a trial to a new location. In high-profile matters, a change of venue may occur to move a jury trial away from a location where a fair and impartial jury may not be possible due to widespread publicity about a crime and/or defendant(s) , it's fairly familiar reality programming. ``Caesars 24/7'' (A&E; 10 p.m. Monday) Think: Another variation on ``The Casino,'' ``American Casino'' and other reality shows set in Las Vegas; this one is set at Caesars Palace. Don't think: Clearly, given all these unscripted un·script·ed adj. Not adhering to or in accordance with a script written beforehand: "his unscripted encounters with the press" Eleanor Clift. Sin City shows, what happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas. In a nutshell: Blandly bad behavior at the gaming tables and elsewhere. Previous casino-based reality shows rolled snake-eyes with viewers; no reason to think this one'll do any differently. ``The Hamburg Cell'' (HBO; 10 p.m. Monday) Think: British docudrama explicating the route three terrorists took from a German terrorist cell to a flight that changed history on Sept. 11, 2001. Don't think: Well, we know how it ends. In a nutshell: Apparently, women in arousing dresses, vaguely erotic art and the usual hate-clogged rhetoric that most Muslims have rejected sent these guys over the edge. A terrifyingly complex issue is made a little too seemingly simplistic sim·plism n. The tendency to oversimplify an issue or a problem by ignoring complexities or complications. [French simplisme, from simple, simple, from Old French; see simple . ``Queer Eye for the Straight Girl'' (Bravo; 11 p.m. Tuesday and 10 p.m. Wednesday) Think: Inevitable albeit belated spinoff of the onetime pop-culture phenomenon. Three men and a little lady offer classy life lessons to young women who aren't quite as hapless as the clients on ``Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,'' only because that's probably not possible. Don't think: The new team - called ``Gal Pals'' rather than ``Fab 5'' - clearly feel compelled to be as quippy as the original overnight successes. But what makes them endearing is their genuine concern for their subjects. In a nutshell: The original show burned itself out pretty quickly; though pretty empathetic, this variation isn't fresh enough to extend the franchise's life. ``Tilt'' (ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network ; 9 p.m. Thursday) Think: Michael Madsen, essayer of the soulful lowlife, plays the Matador, a Vegas poker player who has made some bitter enemies (Todd Williams, Kristin Lehman, Eddie Cibrian) who hope to wipe him out in a poker championship. A cop (Chris Bauer) intends to do far worse. From the screenwriters of ``Rounders.'' Don't think: ``Tilt,'' in gambling parlance, describes stumbling into an insurmountable losing streak. Which, ``Playmakers'' excepted, seems to describe ESPN's scripted entertainment. In a nutshell: ``Playmakers'' effectively deglamorized the glamour of pro football. This glamorizes a far less glamorous milieu - not the same thing, and not as interesting. ``Battlestar Gallactica'' (Sci Fi; 9 p.m. Friday) Think: Those dratted drat·ted adj. Damned; confounded. Cylons have destroyed virtually all Life As We Know It Life As We Know It is an American television drama on the ABC network during the 2004-2005 season. It was created by Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah. The series was based on the novel Doing It by British writer Melvin Burgess. , and it's up to a beleaguered be·lea·guer tr.v. be·lea·guered, be·lea·guer·ing, be·lea·guers 1. To harass; beset: We are beleaguered by problems. 2. To surround with troops; besiege. band of 50,000 survivors to give them a spanking in this remake of the cheesy '70s series, which Sci Fi resuscitated as a miniseries in 2003. Edward James Olmos Edward James Olmos (born February 24, 1947) is an Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated American actor and director. Some of his most memorable roles were Lt. Martin Castillo in Miami Vice, Jaime Escalante in Stand and Deliver and Admiral William Adama in the and Mary McDonnell star as the remaining leadership, Katee Sackhoff and Jamie Bamber play the hotshot fighter pilots, James Callis portrays the secret traitor and Tricia Helfer oozes about as the busty bust·y adj. bust·i·er, bust·i·est Full-bosomed. Adj. 1. busty - (of a woman's body) having a large bosom and pleasing curves; "Hollywood seems full of curvaceous blondes"; "a curvy young woman in a tight Cylon making sure the traitor doesn't try anything heroic anytime soon. Don't think: Richard Hatch, who played Captain Apollo in the original series, guest-stars in next week's episode, a bone thrown to the fanboys, who now are fan-middle-age-men. In a nutshell: More darkly ambitious and intelligent than its predecessor, though that's not saying a whole lot - with special effects that belie a basic-cable budget. ``McBride'' (Hallmark Channel; 9 p.m. Friday) Think: Multiple Emmy-winner John Larroquette stars as a colorfully goodhearted good·heart·ed adj. Kind and generous. good hearted·ly adv. cop-turned-attorney who takes only the toughest cases. Here, he defends a sensitive hospital orderly accused of murdering - need we say it? - a beautiful young woman with many secrets. Don't think: Re-enacting scenes placing Larroquette's character at crime scenes cribs from myriad crime procedurals ranging from ``Crossing Jordan'' to ``CSI CSI Crime Scene Investigator CSI CompuServe, Inc. CSI Commodity Systems, Inc. CSI Commodity Systems Inc. (Boca Raton, FL) CSI Crime Scene Investigation (CBS TV show) CSI Christian Schools International : Miami'' to ``Medical Investigation.'' Been there, done that - again and again. In a nutshell: Programmatic writing squanders Larroquette's talents. ``Richard Jeni: A Big Steaming Pile of Me'' (HBO; 10 p.m. Saturday) Think: The comic riffs on Michael Jackson, proctologists, flying post- 9/11, liberal guilt, the effects of marijuana on watching C-SPAN and the virtues of violence. Don't think: Jeni's claim to fame is starring in one of UPN's first failed sitcoms - who would've guessed something called ``Platypus platypus (plăt`əpəs), semiaquatic egg-laying mammal, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, of Tasmania and E Australia. Also called duckbill, or duckbilled platypus, it belongs to the order Monotremata (see monotreme), the most primitive group Man'' wouldn't fly? In a nutshell: Partially inspired, occasionally hackneyed. Addressing our country's public-relations problem overseas, he notes, ``If we can sell bad food, useless thigh cream and deadly cigarettes, we can sell the United States - if we have the right slogan, and that slogan is: '20 million illegal aliens can't be wrong.' '' David Kronke, (818) 713-3638 david.kronke(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) ``ZOEY 101'' (2) ``BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA'' |
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