Coming soon to ABC: "Ugly Betty's Hooters"

We critics were told over the summer that "Ugly Betty," premiering next week on ABC, is based on the "most popular telenovela in history," the Colombian series "Betty La Fea." No more: "Betty's" ratings have been eclipsed in Colombia by another soap, this one revolving around a teenage girl who dreams of getting jumbo breast implants.

REVIEW: "Smith," starring Ray Liotta

With “Smith,” viewers flip from one side of the law — the valiant global bad-guy chasers of “The Unit,” the 8 p.m. show on CBS — to the other, as Ray Liotta leads a group of criminals in daring, sophisticated heists at 9 tonight.

A lot of money appears to have been spent on “Smith’s” pilot, with catchy location shoots and things that go boom. But this cast doesn’t need gimmickry to propel the show. It’s a smart series with a pacing that sometimes takes your breath away. Still, once the action pauses, will viewers want to spend time with a bunch of amoral characters?

TV Barn's TV Picks for Sept. 19

While it's subsequently been replaced on "The Daily Show" by "This Week in God," one can still find John Bloom's "The God Stuff" in what magazine?

A) The Nation
B) Sojourners
C) The Wittenburg Door
D) The Progressive
E) Mother Jones

REVIEW: "Studio 60" misses even as it's a hit

When I previewed “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” for attendees of “Watch the Pilots with Aaron” at Screenland Theatre earlier this month, they burst into applause. And that was before I showed it to them.

Such has been the anticipation for “Studio 60,” the latest project from “West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme. They left “The West Wing” three years ago, Sorkin to write a political movie, Schlamme to create a high-concept drama series called “Jack and Bobby” that died in obscurity on the WB network.

If you like prime-time television, then you can only hope that some order has been restored to the universe with “Studio 60,” a fast-paced hour that takes place behind the scenes of a venerable but creatively troubled late-night variety show that is meant to invite comparisons to the real “Saturday Night Live.”

Yet after watching two episodes, which were quite enjoyable, I'm afraid Sorkin and Schlamme haven't recaptured the magic. The world has changed since “West Wing” signed on, not just because of those fateful numbers 9-11 but another number, “24,” and three letters, “CSI.”

“The West Wing” spanned two presidencies and was always able to project itself as a pleasant fantasy against the backdrop of real life. The Bartlet White House was a place where men and women of integrity briskly and efficiently conducted business while never seeming to lose grasp of the public's interest, even (gasp) at times putting it above their own.

“At its heart, 'Studio 60' is the same thing that 'The West Wing' was at its heart and the same thing 'Sports Night' before that was at its heart,” Sorkin told TV critics this summer. “It's about a group of people committed to professionalism, committed to each other, committed to what they're doing.”

But “Studio 60” is about more than that, and if you'll allow me to mildly spoil the first 15 minutes of tonight's episode, I'll explain how, and why it doesn't work for me.

RETURNING SHOWS: The dramas

This is the week when the TV season begins in earnest, with a slew of new shows and an even slewier slew of returning series. We covered the new ones last week in these pages; today we’ll look at the most notable returning dramas and next week, the comedy and reality shows.

Just a reminder: All times Central.

This week gets off to a colorful start when “CSI: Miami” becomes “CSI: Rio” for a day, as CBS counters the debut of NBC’s “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” with some razzmatazz of its own (9 p.m. Monday, KCTV-5). Filming in the Brazilian hotspot will give viewers, especially those with high-definition TVs, as much eye candy as “Studio 60” will ear candy.

REVIEW: "The Class" aims low, grades low

After three episodes of “The Class,” you would think I’d have something funnier to report to you than the scene where a young woman was whacked by an airborne stop sign.

UncleBarky.com is on the air

Former Dallas Morning News TV critic Ed Bark is online with his own blog, which will allow his almost inexhaustible productivity to have literally no end to it.  Among the novelties of UncleBarky.com are articles about Dallas-Fort Worth area television, something Bark wasn't allowed to do his last six years on the job. It will include content from his kids as well. Why he was not allowed to write about DFW TV is a story that has been mostly untold. Until now.

Some people have told me I'm risking everything, and should say nothing until the check clears. But free speech and truth-telling are non-negotiable. And everything in me says that this is the right and honorable thing to do. Right here, right now.

Read the full story at Ed's site. I think you'll agree this is one time when someone doesn't have an axe to grind so much as a point he'd really, really like to make.

And if you've ever read Ed, you know he's 50-something going on 30-something ... only much wiser. The DMN let 111 people walk out the door on Friday, but I think they're going to be missing one person in particular this week.