TVSquad

(S01E08) Well, first off I have to give props to the make-up and effects departments. In some prior episodes there have been some pretty awkwardly awful effects scenes ("Eater" when her arm is bitten), but throughout this episode, the make-up on Doug Jones (the Hellboy movies) was just astounding. It's interesting to me that at the NBC website and everywhere I can look, Jones is the only principal listed for this show.

I'll grant that his performance as patriarch Grady was a show-stopper, but John Pyper-Ferguson as his brother and Molly Hagan as his wife are just as integral to the effectiveness of the story and the emotional power that the character back-story provides. In fact, Doug Jones got third billing in the show credits themselves. I guess they just know where the strength of the show lie. And Jones is a proven master at playing the bizarre and/or downright creepy under heavy make-up, as he ultimately does here. With roles like the Silver Surfer (Fantastic Four), Abe Sabien (Hellboy) and El Fauno/The Pale Man (Pan's Labyrinth), Jones is absolutely brilliant at bringing these characters to life.

• TV Land has an Andy Griffith Show marathon tonight while CMT has a Scott Baio Is 46...And Pregnant marathon.
• At 8, CBS has a new Big Brother.
• NBC has a new, two hour Last Comic Standing at 8, followed by a new Fear Itself.
• FOX has new episodes of Don't Forget The Lyrics and So You Think You Can Dance.
• At 8:30, HGTV has a new Myles of Style, followed by new episodes of Rate My Space, Extreme Living, and House Hunters.
• At 9, History Channel has a new Modern Marvels, then a new episode of The Works.
• At 10, ABC has a the season finale of Hopkins.
• CBS has a new Flashpoint at 10.
• There's a new Burn Notice on USA at 10.
• Food Network has a new Ace of Cakes at 10.
• Bravo has a new Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List at 10.
• Showtime has a new Penn & Teller's Bullshit at 10.
• Also at 10: Comedy Central has a new Gong Show, then a new Reality Bites Back.

Check your local TV listings for more.

(S01E07) This tale was penned by newcomer Kelly Kennemer; his only prior writing credit was the acclaimed film Music Within. It was directed by America Psycho and The Notorious Bettie Page's Mary Harron. The plot is like Superman and Lois Lane moving into suburban hell to start a family. I know the general plotline of a couple moving into an idyllic community that turns out to be anything but has been done before, but I'm not thinking of any specific examples (I expect you'll fill me in with your comments). The Stepford Wives has the same tone, but obviously there are some distinctive differences. Here, there were some clever moments to be sure, but the suspension of disbelief was even greater for this extended story than in most horror stories.

• G4 has live Comic-Con coverage until 10pm.
• At 8, CBS has a new Greatest American Dog.
• FOX has a new Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? at 8, then a new So You Think You Can Dance.
• NBC has a new, two hour Last Comic Standing at 8, followed by a new Fear Itself.
• Cartoon Network has a new Chowder at 8, then new episodes of The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack and Total Drama Island.
• At 8:30, HGTV has a new Myles of Style, then new episodes of Rate My Space, Extreme Living, and House Hunters.
• At 9, TBS has a new Bill Engvall Show, then a new My Boys.
• TLC has a new American Chopper at 9.
• At 10, ABC has a new Hopkins.
• CBS has a new Flashpoint at 10 (new night).
• There's a new Burn Notice on USA at 10.
• Food Network has a new Ace of Cakes at 10.
• Bravo has a new Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List at 10.
• Showtime has a new Penn & Teller's Bullshit at 10.
• Also at 10: History Channel has a new Modern Marvels, followed by a new episode of The Works.

Check your local TV listings for more.

(S01E06) Steve Niles has become the modern day horror maven of the comic book world. He brought us 30 Days of Night, which is far better in the comic world than on the big screen. Here, he's paired with Darren Bousman, director of the Saw sequels to bring zombies to broadcast television. Right away, then, this had a better chance of me liking it because I've always had a soft spot for zombies and Niles has offered us a pretty different take on the genre.

• At 8, CBS has a new Greatest American Dog.
• NBC has a new, two hour Last Comic Standing at 8, followed by a new Fear Itself.
• FOX has a new Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? at 8, then a new So You Think You Can Dance.
• HGTV has all new episodes starting at 8: Designed To Sell, Myles of Style, Rate My Space, Extreme Living, and House Hunters.
• Also at 8: Cartoon Network has a new Chowder, then new episodes of The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack and Total Drama Island.
• At 9, TBS has a new Bill Engvall Show, followed by a new My Boys.
• History Channel has a new Modern Marvels at 9, then a new The Works.
• At 10, ABC has a new Hopkins.
• CBS has a new Swingtown at 10.
• There's a new Burn Notice on USA at 10.
• Food Network has a new Ace of Cakes at 10.
• Spike has a new TNA Impact at 10.
• Bravo has a new Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List at 10.
• The new Gong Show premieres on Comedy Central at 10. It's followed by the premiere of Reality Bites Back.
• Showtime has a new Penn & Teller's Bullshit at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

(S01E05) NBC's website says that writer Richard Chizmar's first big project with his writing partner Jonathan Schaech is an adaptation of Stephen King's From A Buick 8. Then, they say that Jonathan Schaech's first big project with his writing partner Richard Chizmar is an adaptation of Stephen King's Black House. I'm not horribly familiar with either of them, though they've written for Masters of Horror and Heroes, nor the director Stuard Gordon (Re-Animator). Yes, that means I've never seen Re-Animator.

I am familiar with Elisabeth Moss who played the female rookie officer, though more for her work on Mad Men than The West Wing. She's one of those girls who isn't classically beautiful and because of that can play both the pretty girl when done up and the mousy girl when needed. For this installment she is cast in the latter role and put opposite the towering Stephen R. Hart as a serial killer named "The Eater." He doesn't even have to be anything more than his 6'11" in height and he's scary as all hell, but with the teeth and make-up added here, he's downright terrifying.

• At 8, NBC has a new, two hour Last Comic Standing, then a new Fear Itself.
• FOX has a new Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? at 8, followed by a new So You Think You Can Dance.
• At 9, TBS has a new Bill Engvall Show, then a new My Boys.
• HGTV has a new Rate My Space at 9.
• At 10, ABC has a new Hopkins.
• CBS has a new Swingtown at 10.
• Sundance has a new Live From Abbey Road at 10, with David Gray and Suzanne Vega.
• Also at 10: Bravo has a new Kathy Griffin: My Life On The D-List.
• At 10:30, History Channel has a new Surviving History.
• Comedy Central has a new Reno 911 at 10:30.

Check your local TV listings for more.

All things considered, the summer television season is off to a pretty good start. I've been enjoying My Boys, The Middleman, Fear Itself, and So You Think You Can Dance, to name a few. The schedules might be a little heavy with the reality programming at the moment, but that's changing soon enough. Over the next few weeks we have the likes of Eureka, Psych, Burn Notice, Stargate: Atlantis, Monk, The Closer, and Saving Grace all making their returns.

With those last two in mind, I thought I would point everyone to some handy recaps the fine folks over at TNT put together to get us back up to speed before the shows return on July 14th. Each of the videos manages to crunch the last season down to about four and a half minutes, and I've embedded them after the jump.

(S01E04) When I got the chance to review this week's episode of Fear Itself, I was pretty excited. Firstly because I knew it starred James Roday and Maggie Lawson from Psych, and secondly because it was directed by John Landis.

While I admit that Landis' directorial offerings in the theater have been less than stellar in recent years, he still holds a special place in my heart for being the man who brought us Trading Places, The Blues Brothers and Animal House. I was also excited to see how Landis, Roday and Lawson do with a different type of script than the one they worked together on with Psych.

I was hooked almost from the beginning. I almost fell asleep during the setup about the wedding being "too soon' and all the bridesmaid junk, but once Lawson opened the note and the great theme music kicked in I was ready to go.

(S01E03) Nope, this isn't Eureka, and that isn't the friendly Sheriff Carter up there. But it is Eureka's Colin Ferguson, and with Clifton Collins Jr. he has created a truly chilling installment in NBC's increasingly "must see" horror anthology Fear Itself. Well, much of the credit to the success of this episode belongs at the feet of Dan Knauf, who proved himself an absolute master of the macabre with his darkly brilliant HBO series Carnivále. He's also been a writer for Supernatural, so this stuff is clearly old hat for him.

And I'm pleased to say that the "old pro" really came through with "Family Man." Easily the best episode of the young season so far and one of the best stand-alone hours of any anthology series I think I've ever seen. Ferguson, who we've come to know and love for playing the nice guy really shines here. And due to the complexity of the story, both he and Collins get a real chance to flex their acting muscles to brilliant effect. From the chilling scenes at home to the overwhelming drama in the prison, each moment propelled the story forward. The only thing that blows me away is that director Ronny Yu, who does wonderfully here, has Freddy vs. Jason and Bride of Chucky as his horror directing pedigree.

• At 8, FOX has a new Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?, followed by a new So You Think You Can Dance.
• TLC has a new Overhaulin' at 8, then a new American Chopper.
• At 8:30, NBC has a new Last Comic Standing, then a new Fear Itself.
• At 9, TBS has a new Bill Engvall Show, followed by a new My Boys.
• At 10, CBS has a new Swingtown.
• There's a new Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List at 10 on Bravo.
• Showtime has a new Penn & Teller's Bullshit at 10.
• Also at 10: Sundance Channel has a new Live From Abbey Road, with Mary J. Blige, James Blunt, and Dashboard Confessional.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Reno 911.

Check your local TV listings for more.

(S01E02) This is what is fun about anthology shows, and why I can never understand why they never do better in the ratings. As much as people bitch about and resist taking a chance on long-form new serialized programs like the '05-'06 trinity of Invasion, Surface and Threshold, you would think they would embrace a series where each episode truly stands alone. With a show like this, your investment into it won't be impacted in any way if the network pulls the plug after only thirteen episodes, or even just four.

And yet, anthology shows tend to struggle even more than heavily serialized fare. In fact, Fear Itself got its ass handed to it by Swingtown in the head-to-head premieres last week. The big question is, with the "not-so-good" nature of the premiere, how many people came back to see this much improved second episode, and how many will stick around for Daniel Knaupf's outstanding episode next week? While last week was a poorly written and acted "monster of the week" boobfest, this time we got a well constructed good old-fashioned haunting.

• At 8, ABC has another Celtics/Lakers game.
• CBS has a new Million Dollar Password (with Betty White!) at 8.
• FOX has a new Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? at 8, then a new So You Think You Can Dance.
• Also at 8: Cartoon Network has a new Chowder, then a new Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.
• At 8:30, NBC has a new Last Comic Standing, followed by a new Fear Itself.
• At 9, TBS has the season premiere of The Bill Engvall Show, then the season premiere of My Boys.
• Bravo has the season premiere of My Life on the D List at 9, followed by The A List Awards.
• Spike has a new TNA Impact at 9.
• At 10, CBS has a new Swingtown.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Reno 911.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Two new summer shows debuted at 10pm last night, one on CBS and one on NBC (ABC had the first game of the Celtics/Lakers battle). And it turns out that more viewers wanted to see people swing than see people scream.

The first episode of the CBS series Swingtown, which depicts various neighbors in the 70s drinking, smoking, exchanging partners, and wearing bad clothes, beat the first episode of the new NBC series Fear Itself, a horror anthology series. Swingtown grabbed 8.6 million viewers while Fear Itself managed to get 5.2 million viewers. For the night, ABC won with the NBA game.

I'm rather embarrassed to say that I completely forgot that either of them was on. My night consisted of watching the Red Sox/Rays game (lots of fights and weirdness) and then reading a book until Letterman came on at 11:35. What did everyone think of either or both of these shows?