Tuesday night TV lineup – Clacking the dream

Definitely a good  historical night for television. We have a lot to discuss, so I’ll leave you with just one thought: “That episode of Who’s the Boss? where Tony sees Angela naked in the shower” is a winning parade float idea.

If you’d like to play along at home, you can see how I arrived at my choices — and pick your own — by taking a look at my CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, and The CW Tuesday night lineups, before jumping in below.

8:00-9:00 NCIS is a giant slayer, but that’s when battling current programming. How does it hold up against Roc or Who’s the Boss? at 8:00, and 3rd Rock from the Sun or Carpoolers at 8:30?

I think Who’s the Boss? was one of those shows that won it’s network slot but doesn’t stand up in the pantheon of greatness. Interestingly, it’s now Judith Light that I enjoy seeing on TV; Tony Danza just makes me sad. Roc was a giant of a show, and Charles S. Dutton is a superstar. I remember getting a lot of comedic enjoyment from the series, but many brilliantly acted dramatic moments come to mind as well.

3rd Rock from the Sun could be a hoot-and-a-half, but it had plenty of stumbling blocks as well. Dick Solomon was great, but God did I hate Mary. Wayne Knight is always hilarious, but Kristen Johnston? She’s almost as annoying as Jennifer Coolidge! And Harry and Tommy were tops, but they were often over-looked. A mixed bag, that one. Carpoolers only dragged when Aubrey or Dougie went home. And how can you not love T.J. Miller? There was a lot of work to do on the show had it made it, but what awesome raw material.

On the other hand, NCIS has put together one of the finest ensembles on TV today. Gibbs, Tony, McGee, Ducky, and Palmer are all some of my favorite characters. And even though Abby bothers me, I can suffer through her. But when Ziva inexplicably returned at the beginning of season seven, my enthusiasm for her turned to distaste, which has now settled on a big, fat “whatever.”

I think it’s going to be NCIS by a nose. I might have gone with one of the four half-hours, but no two-show combo could outshine the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

9:00-10:00 I selected The Guardian and Sports Night as “I’ve always wanted to try them” shows, so obviously they get cut here. Which leaves us with hour-longs Reaper and Standoff, or Will & Grace or Sons & Daughters at 9:00, and The Office at 9:30.

Standoff can go too … it was a solid FOX offering, but it’s not in the same league. And Sons & Daughters was heavily swayed by how much my wife loved it…. So then there were two (choices for the hour) — Reaper or Will & Grace and The Office.

You are very dear to my heart Sam, Sock, Ben, Andi, Gladys, and Ray Wise, but I was disappointed in your second season — once the show knew it was all but done for, the mythology of the demons started to stink a bit too much. Whereas, its current season notwithstanding, The Office is a tower of a tier-one sitcom, and Will & Grace is a solid top tier-two. The choice wasn’t as easy as it looks, but Will & Grace and The Office it is.

10:00-11:00 I super-cheated at this hour on CBS — I made no decision between Smith, Cane, and The Good Wife. And on top of that, I also have Law & Order: SVU and Eli Stone to choose from….

Let’s cut and run on two quickly: The Good Wife looks to be going somewhere that surprises me, with Peter returning to the public eye, and Alicia attempting to stay astride the treadmill that she built for herself. Not necessarily something I won’t enjoy, but not the show that made it impossible for me to pick before. And I’ve sadly had to stop watching Law & Order: SVU; anyone with a kid would understand why.

Smith was the Ray Liotta show you panned, Cane the Jimmy Smits one you ignored, and Eli Stone the Jonny Lee Miller one with the singing that you never meant to try. Let’s see … Cane, in an attempt to win an audience, turned Smits’ Alex Vega into a man of very questionable morality. That, in turn, changed everyone from Nestor Carbonell’s Frank to Hector Elizondo’s Poncho. And not for the better. It’s tough to turn on a show because it was forced to change in search of an audience, but what can I do?

Eli Stone was wonderful. Though there were fans who disliked the direction it was heading in by mid-season two, I never found myself unhappy with anything about the show. In fact, I could never understand why people weren’t watching it.

Smith was something special. Yes, all seven episodes of it. Virginia Madsen’s Hope had layers we’d yet to explore. Simon Baker’s Jeff did too, as well as Jonny Lee Miller’s Tom, Franky G’s Joe, and Amy Smart’s Annie. Plus Chris Bauer’s pedigree is The Wire. We just didn’t get enough. But what we did get from Ray Liotta’s time on network TV was brilliant. I recently re-watched the show when it aired on DirecTV’s 101 network, and it was fantastic. Although I’d miss all of these shows if they fell into this black hole, Smith is my choice on quality alone. It was just that good.

And that’s all there is to it. If it were up to me, I’d be watching the following lineup in perpetuity on Tuesday nights: NCIS, Will & Grace, The Office, and Smith. How about you? What does your dream Tuesday night lineup look like?

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on May 28, 2010 @ 12:00 EST5EDT