Thursday

The best and worst of the 2008 TV season

By Frank Pittarese

Kath & Kim (NBC, 8:30 pm) is an adaptation of a popular but titanically unfunny Australian sitcom. On the plus side, it stars Molly Shannon, who always brings her A-game. On the negative side, it stars Selma Blair, possibly the worst actress to walk the planet since the robotic Bridget Fonda. Blair buffooned her way through Cruel Intentions and was a mushmouthed wonder in Legally Blonde and two Hellboy films. I expect nothing but the worst from her. The show is about a wacky, tacky mom (Shannon) who takes in her difficult, screwball daughter (Blair). Trailer trash hijinks ensue. The actresses are only seven years apart, but welcome to the wonderful world of TV. I have no love for the departed-to-ABC Scrubs, but I don't think this show is the answer to filling that slot. I'd rather watch the guy in the diaper.

Eleventh Hour (CBS, 10 pm) is about some super-brainy dude who comes in to solve crimes at the, erm, eleventh hour. A genius solving crimes is unlike Numb3ers...how? I can't wait till this show crosses over with The Mentalist. What's next, a show about a guy who brings dead people back to life by touching them, but which realllly isn't at all like Pushing Daisies? CBS, you are a creative force unlike any other.

Life on Mars (ABC, 10 pm) is yet another remake of a BBC show. Sam Tyler, a cop from 2008, is hit by a car and wakes up in 1973. He fakes his way onto the police force and tries to do his job in a computerless, cellphone-free world. The original series was a well-made hybrid of sci-fi and cop show, but the American version has been plagued by problems behind the scenes. Original producer David Kelly (The Practice, Boston Legal) dropped out, and the entire pilot was reshot and recast (most damaging loss: Colm Meany as Lt. Hunt, most bizarre addition: Lisa "Denise Huxtable" Bonet as the female lead). It doesn't bode well. ABC is promoting the hell out of it, though. Sometimes, marketing works.

Predictions: Kath & Kim follows My Name is Earl. Once upon a time, that would be a bonus. But Earl is bleeding out viewers after last year's disastrous season—hell, I don't even watch it anymore—so there's really no need to tune into NBC until The Office. Molly Shannon, though, is a force to be reckoned with. Her charisma and manic energy alone could keep this show alive. If Selma Blair doesn't kill it first. As for Eleventh Hour, who knows? CBS deals out those grim procedurals like candy at Halloween, and old folks love 'em. Life On Mars doesn't ask as much of viewers as Pushing Daisies (specifically, that they actually pay attention), but the time travel aspect, however vague it might be, could turn off those who like their cop shows free of anything fantastic. Keep on eye out for the original series, which sometimes runs on BBC-America.

Recommendations: Unless you can accept Smallville (CW, 8 pm) for the flawed creature that it is, just chill out for an hour. Then you've got the option of always-reliable The Office (NBC, 9 pm) and the funnier-by-the-minute 30 Rock (NBC, 9:30 pm). It's a winning combination. I also strongly support Supernatural (CW, 9 pm), which, four seasons in, still manages to be engaging and creepy. And if you're watching Grey's Anatomy (ABC, 9 pm), you probably have a lot of cats.