Wednesday, January 23, 2008

DVR alert: A 'Chuck' sandwich tomorrow night

I'm gonna mention this in tomorrow's column, but given how people have already gotten out of the habit of looking for new episodes of scripted network shows, I wanted to throw in an early reminder that NBC has two episodes of "Chuck" scheduled to air tomorrow at 8 and 10, flanking an episode of "Celebrity Apprentice." I've seen both "Chuck"s, and they're good (especially the first one). And depending on how much longer the strike goes, they may be the last ones we see for quite some time.

8 comments:

jcpbmg said...

Alan, I'm curious as to your thoughts regarding NY Mag's blog comparing The Wire (or at least this season) to S60.

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/01/is_the_wire_turning_into_studi.html#more

While I just began watching season 1 of The Wire last weekend, this seems to harshly contrast the many positive reviews the show has gotten for its final season.

(Sorry for being off topic)

Peter said...

Alan, do you plan on blogging the series finale of Life on Mars or the new season of Torchwood starting this Saturday?

Alan Sepinwall said...

Funny you should mention that. "Life on Mars" (the Bowie song) just came up on my iPod, and I'm hoping to get to an episode blog of that later today, after I'm off newspaper deadline.

And Torchwood will be the subject of Friday's column, and possibly a weekend blog entry as well. I like the new season a helluva lot more than the first.

Nicole said...

City TV (Canada) aired the episodes on Monday. I won't spoil anything, but the first episode is very good.

Chuck has improved from its pilot and there is a good year or two in it, if the strike ever ends.

How many Torchwoods have you seen? I have only seen the first one, and I think the Buffy fans will have a lot to say about it.

Tom O'Keefe said...

I have a strategy question. With so few new episodes (of anything) left, why burn off two new episodes in one night?

Alan Sepinwall said...

How many Torchwoods have you seen? I have only seen the first one, and I think the Buffy fans will have a lot to say about it.

I've seen the first two. The premiere is a good deal lighter than the second, but both of them finally seem to have recognized that the Jack of season one wasn't the Jack who everybody liked enough on Doctor Who to give him his own show.

Alan Sepinwall said...

I have a strategy question. With so few new episodes (of anything) left, why burn off two new episodes in one night?

I think NBC really didn't know what to do with them. At the moment, they seem to be in a "who needs scripted programming, anyway?" mode, plus American Gladiators has taken over the timeslot -- and is doing much bette0r than Chuck ever did. They'd have to devote promotional resources to remind people about a scripted show they'd gotten out of the habit of watching, that would be airing on a different night and time, and do it two weeks in a row. With Celebrity Apprentice unfortunately not stinking up the Nielsens, they figured they'd try an episode on either end and see how each one does. (I know earlier in the year there was debate within NBC over whether Chuck should ever be considered for a 10 o'clock timeslot.)

Originally, they were going to hold onto both until the strike ended and make them the start of a new run of original episodes, but that was when people thought the strike might run a few weeks.

Anonymous said...

I wonder how much Activision paid for their little promo for CoD4 that was finally delivered 2 months after the game was released.