Tuesday night is kind of a serious night within my television viewing. Tonight was especially so coming off watching the news coverage of Egypt and continued through the two NCIS shows on CBS, which thankfully do have some comedic moments. Shifted gears a bit for Parenthood on NBC.
8:00 – Started off with an NCIS episode that was rather pedestrian until the end when they revealed the anecdotal comedic element of the night that was affecting McGee. Although some of it was kind of repetitive with past issues he has had with credit cards and pranks, the finish was quite funny. Next week’s show looks to be quite the opposite though with the preview featuring psych evaluations for the crew. That’s bound to create some comedy as well as interesting situations with the whole Tony-Ziva thang.
9:00 – Usually the lesser of the two NCIS shows, the NCIS LA spinoff was the far better one of the night as they started down another rabbit hole. While I have kind of grown tired of all the anti-terrorist tracks some of the ‘police’ dramas have taken of late, the introductory episode of this arc was very good in how they incorporated regular cast member Nate into it and how it progressed and finished within tonight’s installment. The show smartly addresses the emotional issue of undercover work without being overly melodramatic for what is, at its core, an action series. As I mentioned before, the character of Nate was handled well. While he may have been temporarily written out of the series for other reasons, I like the way that he was brought in as a surprise undercover agent after missing several episodes. It was far more natural and 'realistic' compared to most shows where everybody goes undercover at the same time.
10:00 – I steadfastly stand by my claim that the USA network as a whole has the best set of hour-long shows (and apparently the numbers are really started to show that), but tonight was another example of why Parenthood on NBC is the best show on television. There are a handful of shows I have loved and been a loyal viewer of over the years, but I consider only a few masterpieces from the writing, acting and directing. This show, in my opinion, joins the shows The West Wing and M*A*S*H in that category. It is the first family show that I have seen that honestly looks at the true reality of today’s family situations while also weaving in some comedic elements that keep the show from being morose from being too serious. I love Modern Family as well as it is a brilliant sitcom, but if I had to choose between the two of them, it would have to go to Parenthood. Beyond the praise, tonight’s show continued the whole Alex-related drama between Haddie and her parents, as well as featuring their son who has Asperger Syndrome. The show, mostly serious on the night, evolved into some funny material near the end, but still managed to weave in a heartfelt moment within as it typically does.
Catching Up on Demand – Spent extra time watching true reality programming… you know, the news. It is interesting to see the reality of Egypt come to the forefront, although under unfortunate circumstances. I have to say that I, like many other Americans, kind of had this false impression of the country as a very European like nation where it was not run under an oppressive dictatorship like most, if not, all the other countries in the region. Maybe it was the sense hailing from the fact that it was such a center of historical research with world famous museums and such that made it seem more like France than Iraq. Anyway, it is sad that it takes instances like this for the news outlets to explain the nuances of a nation’s history. Watching CNN and MSNBC, both have been good in interviewing experts that have conveyed how Egypt has evolved to the current situation, which I do not feel happened with Iraq. I feel like it was a giant ramp up with all the outlets just following the mantra of ‘Saddam Hussein is bad, Iraq must be invaded’ while nodding heads to the politicos statements.
Tape Delay – Turns out Hawaii Five-O was a repeat last night so Human Target is really the only show I have a desire to catch up on. The Cape will sink quickly as White Collar joins the mix from tonight as ABC is a complete loser in my book with No Ordinary Family, V and Detroit 1-8-7.
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