Lou Pickney's Online Commentary
TV Title
Thursday
September 30, 2004
I've finally had the chance to catch up on some shows early in this TV season... and the results, as you might imagine, are mixed.
First off, if you haven't seen the ABC show Lost, you're really missing out. It's my favorite new network show since Line of Fire (Deadwood doesn't count since it's an HBO show and thus gets to play by different rules), and I fear that ABC will break my heart and cancel Lost like they have to a long line of great shows that it has killed off before their time. The premise is nice and all, but where Lost really shines is in the character development, plotline, and dialogue. The pilot was decent, but last night's episode was off-the-charts good. It's right up there with some of the great Line of Fire episodes from last season.
I tried watching Dr. Vegas, but it felt too much like ER for me to stick with it. Really, TV writers, I don't want to see the inside of an emergency room. I promise. If I did I would have become a doctor. And it's too bad, since it's both a show based in Las Vegas and co-starring Joe Pantoliano. But I'm not interested in ER: Las Vegas. Capeche?
As I type this, I have the last bit of Wife Swap playing on my TV in the front room. I tried to like the show, but it just didn't do it for me. Rich blueblood from Manhattan is switched with rural woman from New Jersey. Nice idea I suppose, but in practice I found that it lacked any sort of overwhelming compelling factors to keep me interested. It's a one and done for me.
|  | My doctor said yes to Vioxx for me, but now Merck says no.
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Guilty pleasure: I actually enjoy watching The Bachelor. I hope that doesn't make me sound, ummm, not straight. But it is pretty pathetic to see all of these women fall in love with a guy just because the show producers say "he is The Bachelor." And yes, I know there were two guys they got to choose through for this season, but still... Okay, maybe I've said too much, but point being I enjoy watching it. Even though I suspect that the producers are having him keep a couple of the women around purely for dramatic reasons (like Krysta). "I know you're not interested in her, but she's a conniving bitch who makes a great rudos character, so you have to keep her through the final ten." I'm pulling for him to end up with the chick who looks sorta like Sandra Bullock (Andrea). Then again, I'm also pulling for them to reveal in the finale just how many of the women he boned during the filming of the show. And yes, I had to look their names up on the show's website... I'm not THAT much into it. Just for the record.
But hear me on this: Lost is a real keeper. Watch it, Wednesday nights at 9/8 Central on ABC. You hear me? WATCH THE SHOW! If last night's episode is any indication, we're in for a real treat there.
I'll end on a totally unrelated note (unless you can find a way to tie it in with Dr. Vegas): Merck announced that it is recalling the drug Vioxx today. This is most unfortunate for me, as I had been to the doctor two weeks back (with my reoccurring headache/neck pain problem) and he gave me three weeks worth of Vioxx samples to try. And, what do you know, they did the trick. Pain elimination without having to use somas or narcotic strength painkillers. And now they pull the damn thing off the market. First it was ephedrine, now it's Vioxx. Both, interestingly, were pulled because of concerns about potential for heart damage (though only when used in high doses). But what really gets me is that reportedly there was consideration given to putting a more descriptive warning label on Vioxx, but instead it was decided to just pull it off the market. So much for freedom of choice...
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