TALK
It used to have a different cohost every week, but that gimmick is gone. It used to air live in the Eastern and Central time zones, but now it's pretaped to guard against dirty words. A year and a half after it premiered, Jimmy Kimmel Live seems to be losing distinctiveness. So why watch?
Well, Kimmel's more likable than Craig Kilborn, and in most markets he's on a half hour earlier.
Both Comedy Central alums gear their programs to a young male constituency, but CBS's Kilborn (Jon Stewart's Daily Show predecessor) can be insufferably smug, while Kimmel (ex-costar of The Man Show) is casual bordering on indifferent. Rather than bother with an opening monologue, the host has been going straight into the little setups and kickers for his nightly collection of clips. Sample: California's Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger brands his political foes "girly men"; Kimmel calls him a "big dumb foreign guy." Topical but less than trenchant. Nepotism reigns on the Kimmel show. Out-of-the-theater bits often involve the host's cousin Sal, who blew up a fireworks stand to kick off the Fourth of July weekend, or Uncle Frank, a sunny but square 70-year-old who works the red carpet at showbiz events and displays a clueless-ness that has grown less endearing with repetition. At least he's an alternative to The Tonight Show's Ross the intern.
While Kilborn knows jock talk from his ESPN days, don't forget that Kimmel used to make football predictions on FOX. He's so into sports that he actually appeared to enjoy interviewing effusive basketball analyst Dick Vitale. Kimmel seems like a good guy to have a beer with, but he needs to push himself more to stand out from the late-night crowd.
Cartoon Network (Fridays, 7 p.m. ET)
ANIMATION
This is the most original new cartoon series I've seen since SpongeBob SquarePants arrived in 1999. If only it were as funny.
Craig McCracken (The Powerpuff Girls) has created a place where imaginary friends find refuge after being separated from the kids who dreamed them up. In the 90-minute premiere (Aug. 13 at 7:30 p.m.), Mom tells 8-year-old Mac it's time to outgrow his imaginary friend Bloo, an impish blue blob. Bloo moves to Foster's Home voluntarily, but Mac vows to visit him daily so he won't be adopted by another child in need of a pal.
Foster's turns out to be a surrealistic fun house whose residents include Wilt, a Chamberlainesque basketball giant; timid monster Eduardo; and a colorfully crazy bird called Coco. Though the comedy sags in the second episode, when the imaginary friends roam a shopping mall, I'm grading generously based on this show's potential.
ABC (Mon., Aug. 16, 8 p.m. ET)
CLIPFEST
Finally airing after two years on ABC's shelf, this summer special turns a bunch of lemons into refreshing lemonade.
Best TV Shows, based on the book Unsold Television Pilot by coexecutive producer Lee Goldberg, is a breezy hour of clips from sample episodes of series that the networks decided against ordering. Not surprisingly, most of them stink—which is why the special is such a good time.
You'll slap your head in disbelief—try not to hurt yourself—at the idea of John Denver as a singing FBI agent. You'll wonder whether Joe Penny as a samurai district attorney would have been funnier—unintentionally—than John Belushi's samurai character on Saturday Night Live. And you'll think Scott Bakula is pretty down-to-earth in Star Trek: Enterprise after you see him in a busted pilot as a wacky scientist who accidentally merges with a satellite. For tube historians, this is a must-see.
Entourage (HBO, Aug. 15, 10 p.m. ET) Val Kilmer reaches a new height in his career, guest-starring as a mellow, self-styled Sherpa who's a pal of Vince's vegan flame.
Amish in the City (UPN, Aug. 18, 8 p.m. ET) The plain young folk and their hip roomies go for a mud bath, consult a fortune-teller and play truth or dare. Hmm, wonder why the episode title is "I Would Like You to Kiss Ariel"?
The Reunion (ABC, Aug. 18, 10 p.m. ET) A news special looks back at integration efforts in wealthy Shaker Heights, Ohio, at the height of the civil rights movement.
Summer Olympics (NBC, Aug. 19, 8 p.m. ET) Coverage includes the women's individual all-around gymnastics final.
Monk (USA, Aug. 20, 10 p.m. ET) Warning: Ask pharmacist about side effects. In the season finale, Monk (Tony Shalhoub) takes pills that relieve his obsessive-compulsive disorder but take away his sleuthing ability.
- Contributors:
- Terry Kelleher.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
