NBC Friday night lineup – Clacking the dream

I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again: I find it amazing that, once upon a time, the weekends were not forgotten wastelands on TV. That’s right … there was a time when network executives considered the lives of the lonely and single, providing them with quality programming seven nights a week. Today? We’re lucky to get four. Is that because we’ve suddenly become more popular on the whole? Not likely.

In fact, these days there are probably more people sitting home on weekend nights, although that might be because we no longer have to go out to catch a movie, play video games, or hang out with far-flung friends. Even so, it might also be nice to have the option of turning on our televisions and finding something worth watching. But we can always dream.

8:00-9:00 I can’t quite figure how The Powers of Matthew Star, the story of a high school student/alien, snagged Louis Gossett Jr. Then again, it only made it one season, so…. Mr. Smith was about a talking monkey working as a political advisor in Washington, the original V doesn’t look any more appealing to me than the reboot, and Knight Rider wasn’t my cup of tea then or now. Rags to Riches was Annie on steroids, Something is Out There, another science fiction masterpiece, shouldn’t have been out there itself, Baywatch’s popularity the world over boggles my mind, and Matlock was too old-school for me. Players was a failed White Collar, Providence could have been about a protectee on In Plain Sight, and Quantum Leap is safe on my Wednesdays. Against the Grain was an early peak at Ben Affleck as a football player, Mister Sterling tried to paint Josh Brolin as a political wunderkind, and Miss Match introduced us to James Roday. And then there were the reality juggernauts: 1 vs. 100, Identity, Deal or No Deal, The Singing Bee, Amne$ia, and Howie Do It. And, of course, the current season of Law & Order … not a show I ever got into. Instead, I’m going back to 1986, when “Face” was pretty, B.A. pitied the fool, the Colonel was a man of a million faces, and Murdock was certifiably crazy. Give me the original A-Team any day.

9:00-9:30 I’m kind of giving myself away with this being a half-hour slot, but let’s go through the exercise. McClain’s Law was not about Shirley teaching us how to spell her last name (although that might have done better), Manimal did better called Transformers, Misfits of Science was a show only a PhD could love, and Miami Vice was too dated for me even in the movie reboot. Hardball sounds like any number of Michael Connelly books, Trinity was yet another failure for Bobby Cannavale, Three Wishes was a reality magic genie, and Las Vegas succeeded, but totally did not work for me. I’ve mentioned before that I’m surprised that Third Watch passed me by, we discussed Knight Rider above, and Hunter’s got a spot on one of the day’s I’ve yet to cover. A whole bunch of recent shows have come and gone without making any connection with me: Raines, Friday Night Lights, Lipstick Jungle, Crusoe, Southland … and I don’t appear to be alone in that. And I’m not quite sure what makes America’s Toughest Jobs destination television. As you can tell, this slot came down to a half-hour sitcom for me. I really liked Dear John; I think Judd Hirsch is great, and while his character was rather slimy on the show, Jere Burns is a fun actor. Plus the whole “One Two One Club” was just a great setup for comedy. But it actually had some stiff competition, and I have to give the tip to a misfit group of court characters who made a mockery of the legal system. Night Court still speaks to us all.

9:30-10:00 Not much here, because most things at 9PM were an hour. In fact, I have all of two choices: Wings, and Flesh ‘n’ Blood. Peri Gilpin was on the latter, but certainly the stronger choice would be the former. However, for all the times that I caught an episode here or there, I never once found myself enjoying Wings. Sorry, but it’s Free Play for me.

10:00-11:00 First, let’s make short work of what’s already been discussed: Miami Vice, L.A. Law (on my Thursdays), Law & Order, Third Watch, Lipstick Jungle, and Las Vegas. And I have a more appropriate spot for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in mind. Remington Steele had Pierce Brosnan and Doris Roberts and still makes no impression on me, Private Eye sounds like a great show for a different generation, Mancuso, F.B.I. cast Robert Loggia on the right side of the law, which is the wrong side for him, and Midnight Caller tried to make Gary Cole a washed-up cop. Reasonable Doubts cast Mark Harmon and Marlee Matlin together … in a crappy show, I’ll Fly Away gave Sam Waterston his legal chops, Boomtown was a serialized version of Vantage Point, and Inconceivable was about a group of doctors in a … well, just think about the title for a minute. The Book of Daniel envisioned a modern Jesus walking among us, I liked Conviction but didn’t get enough of it to make a long-term call, and Life was … well, in an effort to avoid an eruption I’ll just say I didn’t like it. A part of me is inclined to go with Homicide: Life on the Street, even though I never saw it. I absolutely loved The Wire, and I’m finding Andre Braugher’s acting to be phenomenal on Men of a Certain Age. But I have a wife. And the wife, PhD candidate that she is, loved a little show about a government unit that investigated medical outbreaks, that survived for a little less than a full season. So here you go honey: Medical Investigation it is. Happy Anniversary and Birthday for this year!

Not a bad night, if I do say so myself. What’s amazing is how many successful shows, and how many failed shows with now successful actors, there were to choose from. What does your dream Friday night on NBC look like?

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Feb 26, 2010 @ 12:00 EST5EDT