Friday

The best and worst of the 2008 TV season

By Frank Pittarese

The Ex List (CBS, 9 pm) tells the story of a woman who is told by a psychic that she's already met "the one." So this deranged, desperate person runs around, dating all of her exes. Yeah, I don't know either.

Crusoe (NBC, 9 pm) is something NBC must be terribly ashamed of. I haven't seen a single ad, broadcast or in print, promoting this show (although Wikipedia says they ran ads during the Olympics). In fact, if not for a small write-up in Entertainment Weekly's Fall Preview issue, I wouldn't know it existed. Or will exist, since it's set to premiere on October 17th. What's it about? It is an adaptation of the classic novel Robinson Crusoe. There are no colorful twists. He isn't shipwrecked in space. Friday isn't a woman. There are no monsters on the island. I appreciate NBC's effort, but I wish they'd done Tarzan instead. In space.

Predictions: The Ex List will make it. Maybe not long enough for Nutty Nuthatch to find her true love, but long enough to see the season's end. Crusoe is slated to run for 13 weeks. When I was a boy, they'd run all 13 hours in a week's time. It was called a "mini-series." Still, that's no reason to expect the network to run the whole thing. If viewers shun the premiere, we'll never know if Crusoe gets off the island. And it's not like anybody's gonna read the book or whatever.

Recommendations: Ghost Whisperer (CBS, 8 pm) is losing its way. It was great when the show went for spooky over maudlin, but the season long arcs have been very unfulfilling. And I refuse to accept new castmember Jamie Kennedy as a psychiatrist who hears ghosts. A line has been crossed. If you want to raise your blood pressure, Wife Swap (ABC, 8 pm) has moved to Fridays. I promise you that in every episode, some conservative or stupid or self-centered half-wit person will make you wish the show were called Wife Slap. Numb3rs (CBS, 10 pm) is still on. I avoid that show because it reminds me that math exists. Hmm...Friday night. Maybe it's time to go outside.

And once again, there ain't nuthin' new on Saturday night. Best get yourself a Netflix subscription.

Bleep-bloop,
-Frank