Seven Days of Television: September 30 to October 6
A select viewing guide to the next seven days of television
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 30 We Are Men (CBS, 8:30 p.m.) In keeping with CBS’s ongoing success with traditional old-school sitcoms (Mike & Molly, 2 Broke Girls), this new comedy looks to be one for the boys. The single-camera concept follows four wacky single guys, each on the rebound and all inexplicably sharing an apartment.Carter (Chris Smith) is the wide-eyed naïf newly arrived to the group. Frank (Tony Shalhoub) is a four-times– divorced lounge lizard still chasing the ladies. Gil (Kal Penn) is a nebbish whose wife caught him cheating. And Stuart (Jerry O’Connell) is a soon-to-be-divorced gynecologist who likes wearing Speedos. Somehow thrown into the mix is Frank’s hot daughter, Abby (Rebecca Breed). Juvenile sitcom hysteria ensues.
TUESDAY OCTOBER 1 Person of Interest (CBS, CTV, 9 p.m.) Remember this show? The ongoing story of the fantastically rich computer whiz Finch (Lost’s Michael Emerson) who invents a computer capable of revealing the name of a person about to commit or be harmed by a crime was a ratings magnet for CBS on Thursday nights, so the network confidently moved it here and even pushed it to a later timeslot. In tonight’s new episode, Finch and his hired ex-CIA gunsel Reese (Jim Caviezel) draw the name of a slick Internet hacker who makes his money peeping into other people’s businesses. And then his own life is opened up to the world. Oh the irony!
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 2 Ironside (NBC, Global, 10 p.m.) If you want to elicit a strange glare from your grandparents, tell them Ironside is coming back on television. That’s because the original Ironside aired from 1967 to 1975 and starred Raymond Burr as a crusty San Francisco detective who, despite being turned into a paraplegic by a sniper’s bullet, was still the best damn cop in San Francisco. In this remake, Ironside is a handsome young African-American (Blair Underwood) and apparently running a top-drawer crime-solving unit on the mean streets of New York. And whereas the original Ironside was celibate, the new Ironside is extremely popular with the ladies. Roll on, my man.
THURSDAY OCTOBER 3 Welcome to the Family (Global, 8 p.m.; NBC, 8:30 p.m.) Get ready for Mismatch Ethnic Comedy #335. Another of NBC’s seemingly endless attempts to recapture Thursday-night comedy glory, this new sitcom would never be described as classy. Ex-Glee regular Mike O’Malley plays a working stiff named Dan, who is pretty excited about his teenage daughter graduating from high school and getting accepted to college, until her graduation day when he discovers she’s pregnant. After Dan and his wife Karina (Mary McCormack) learn the father is a Latino guy named Junior (Joseph Garo), they race headlong to the inevitable clash with his hot-tempered parents Miguel (Ricardo Chavira) and Lisette (Justina Machado). Ay caramba!
FRIDAY OCTOBER 4 Marketplace (CBC, 8 p.m.) You want staying power in Canadian television? This sturdy CBC newsmagazine has been testing products and exposing consumer scans for 40 seasons! A new campaign begins tonight with an undercover investigation that takes hidden cameras into the offices of possibly crooked veterinarians. Are pet owners getting stiffed for pet maintenance? Tom Harrington and Erica Johnson return to host.
SATURDAY OCTOBER 5 The Wizard of Oz (YTV, 8 p.m.) Recently re-released to theatres in 3D, this 1939 film adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s marvelous tale is one of very few movies–maybe the only movie–that can be watched over and over again. It’s the film that made Judy Garland a star for her endearing performance as the young and orphaned Dorothy, whose dreary black-and-white existence on her uncle’s Kansas farm shifts to Technicolor once she’s whisked over the rainbow with her little dog Toto. Once in the merry old land of Oz, Dorothy befriends a Scarecrow Ray Bolger), a Tin Man (Jack Haley) and a Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr) and they all set off to see the Wizard while the nasty Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) tries to snuff them out. Even after all these years, those flying monkeys are the stuff of nightmares.
SUNDAY OCTOBER 6 Alaskan Women Looking for Love (TLC, 10 p.m.) Aren’t shows explained entirely in the title just the best? As you’ve already gleaned, this new unscripted series follows six unattached ladies, aged 22 to 34, from Kodiak Island, Alaska. Each one is tired of dating old fisherman and moose-hunters and each one is pretty much desperate to find a soul mate. Next stop: Miami Beach, where the six-pack of man-hungry gals hit the beach by day and the bars by night. Who says this isn’t the golden age of reality television?