BY TOM GLIATTO
NEWS
More than a month since assuming the CBS evening anchor chair, former Today coanchor Katie Couric remains something of a strange sight. There she is in her newfound powerful isolation, standing or sitting by her lonesome in front of maps and graphics. If only Al Roker would saunter in, tossing a beachball—anything to break Couric's pinched concentration. You get the impression someone has whispered in her earpiece that the set is booby-trapped, and if she lets her voice slide up an octave the whole place will blow, taking Walter Cronkite's grand legacy with it. With time, she'll outdistance her long history as part of the old Today news ensemble and grow into this new role. Won't she? For now, third in the ratings, she's best in interviews. Her eyes light up with the give-and-take.
First thing, though: The broadcast needs to ditch those guest editorials. The segments are called "freeSpeech," but they're more like "deadAir." Give those minutes back to Couric.
Syndicated (Weekdays, check listings)
TALK
Dr. Keith Ablow (ab-low) is a psychiatrist who looks either like Tony Randall's son or Howie Mandel's more serious brother. He explores his guests' emotional wounds with an air of scrupulous earnestness that suggests a dignified professionalism, as if he were running an expensive clinic or sanitarium. But his very lack of showbiz flashiness (some might say vulgarity), even when doing a show on the spectacularly strange John Mark Karr, can make for a disappointing TV experience. Compare this with the ripe, entertaining bluster of Dr. Phil. Ablow could afford to be more of ablowhard.
HBO (Oct. 30, 9 p.m. ET)
DRAMA
Shot with unemphatic documentary plainness, Angel Rodriguez is a deceptively simple but powerful story about human possibility. Angel (Jonan Everett) is a 17-year-old dumped in limbo when his father throws him out—mostly because of tensions with the father's girlfriend. His counselor (Rachel Griffiths) tries to encourage him to keep his eye on the future—he's good with computers—even after he steals from her. The suspense here comes from the fact that Angel presents a blank face to the world. We can never guess whether he'll make the right decisions. In one awful moment it even seems possible he'll commit a murder. Griffiths, on the other hand, conveys the counselor's thoughts with a quicksilver gravity. It's a small but beautiful performance.
When Williams, 47, took over from Tom Brokaw at NBC Nightly News in 2004, there was some question whether he could extend the broadcast's eight-year lease at No. 1. Answer: yes. With his way of delivering the news—he has the voice of a muted horn—he currently draws some 8 million viewers, 1 million-plus more than Couric.
Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC, Oct. 31, 9 p.m. ET) Liza Minnelli guest stars as the mother of a murdered girl. The episode has distinct JonBenet Ramsey echoes.
Caroline Rhea: Rhea's Anatomy (Bravo, Oct. 31, 10 p.m. ET) The Biggest Loser host puts on her stand-up hat.
Ugly Betty (ABC, Nov. 2, 8 p.m. ET) Betty's boss (Eric Mabius) is transfixed by a mystery woman (Salma Hayek, who happens to be the hit show's executive producer).
Weeds (Showtime, Oct. 30, 10 p.m. ET) Season 2 finale of the lively suburban satire about a mom (Mary-Louise Parker) who traffics in marijuana.
Supernatural (The CW, Nov. 2, 9 p.m. ET) The ghost of H.H. Holmes, a real American serial killer from the late 19th century, makes bloody trouble.
The Rich List (FOX, Nov. 1, 9 p.m. ET) A new quiz show.
Bridget Moynahan
The actress plays a Manhattan PR executive making karmic connections on ABC's Six Degrees.
DO YOU BELIEVE IN FATE? Ever since the show started, a lot of us look at people on airplanes or in restaurants in a different way: Who can this person be to you?
HOW MANY DEGREES AWAY FROM KEVIN BACON ARE YOU? I just worked with Tim Robbins on a movie, Noise, and he worked with Kevin on Mystic River. So we're practically first cousins!
Mr. T, now serving as a sort of life coach for slackers on TV Land's I Pity the Fool, talks about his own pitiless fight against cancer, a T-cell lymphoma diagnosed in 1995.
"I thought I was tough before, but going through this cancer, I suffered, I ached, I cried. My mother always said you don't want to be around a man that don't cry. I've been through the chemotherapy, the radiation. I have been through all of that. It was hard, the pain, the nausea. But I give hope to other people. Right now my doctor says the cancer's being controlled. I just came from the hospital—I just had my [bimonthly] cancer checkup. There's no flare-ups or whatever. We're doing good. I'm not going to quit."
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