February goes way off script
"Jericho"
This is one of the freakiest Februarys in memory, and the business about 29 days is the least of it. The orbits of Super Tuesday and Super Sunday are so close that Fox is handing three hours of pre-game coverage today over to noted sportscaster Shepard Smith.
Weirder still, it's a sweeps month and the networks have almost nothing sweeps-worthy to put on TV. With the writers' strike threatening to enter its fourth month -- barring some breakthrough in the informal talks underway between the scribes and networks -- most of the shows that signed on in the fall have emptied their cupboards. Advertisers have already gone on record saying that whoever wins the ratings race this month will be treated with the same respect as the NFL team that had the best record during the 1987 players' strike.
In other words, consider yourself fortunate if you turn on your TV this month and actually find something to watch that's not reruns or total crap.
With that benchmark in mind, here are some relative highlights in February. All times Central:
“Welcome to the Captain” (7:30 p.m. Monday on CBS, KCTV-5) Jeffrey Tambor brings his spotty sitcom record (“Larry Sanders” and “Arrested Development” on one hand, “Twenty Good Years” and the “Fawlty Towers” remake on the other) back to network TV. He's just one of several nutty, kooky, crazy tenants in a wild Hollywood apartment building that, on further reflection, isn't that wild, kooky, crazy or nutty … but it is Monday night and it is CBS. Raquel Welch and some young people co-star.
“Grand Central” (8 p.m. Monday on KCPT). This look at the magisterial New York railway station is yet another “American Experience” paean to a Great American Structure built by Great American Structure-Builders during one of those bygone promothean ages when men were men and didn't have time to sit around watching television (even if it existed it 1913). Later “Amexes” this month include biographies of Missouri native Kit Carson (Feb. 18) and Kansas native resident Buffalo Bill Cody (Feb. 25).
“In Treatment” (8:30 weeknights on HBO). This unique series for HBO -- five half-hours a week -- features little more than a therapist (Gabriel Byrne) talking with patients, a different one each day, as well as his own shrink (Dianne Wiest). You may find it a remarkably true-to-life recreation of the psychotherapy experience or a total bore. Or maybe you'll be like me: Even if it is just like actual screwed-up people spilling their guts, what's entertaining about that? Though “In Treatment” began last week, you can pretty much pick up with the story of Laura (Melissa George) and her troubled relationship on Monday.
“Lipstick Jungle” (9 p.m. Thursday, NBC, KSHB). Once upon a time there was a successful New York woman. Her name was Candace Bushnell, and she got famous writing about New York women in her column, “Sex and the City,” which became a TV show called “Sex in the City.” Then Bushnell wrote “Lipstick Jungle,” about powerful and sexy New York women, and it too became a TV show called -- wait, isn't that the premise of “Cashmere Mafia,” which debuted last month on ABC? Oh, that was from the person who produced “Sex in the City.” So does that make “Lipstick Jungle” version 1.0 or 2.0? Such confusion! Something tells me neither show will live happily ever after.
“TransAmerican Love Story” (Feb. 11, Logo). Calpernia Addams is a she who used to be a he. Now she is looking for a he, and that's why she's going on national TV to play elim-i-date with a roomful of guys. Oh, come on! You aren't even slightly interested?
“Jericho” (Feb. 12, CBS, KCTV-5). It's back! The apocalyptic thriller set in Kansas returns with seven episodes, and like the good citizens of Jericho taking on the ogres of New Bern, this show will have to do battle with “American Idol” if it's to survive. Need a brush-up? Season one repeats in high definition on Universal HD beginning at 9 p.m. on Feb. 9.
“Banished” (Feb. 19, KCPT). The terrible true story of American cities that violently expelled their African-American residents, as told by Marco Williams, one of the directors of the eye-opening “Two Towns of Jasper.”“Top Gear” (Feb. 25, BBC America). NASCAR enthusiasts have nothing on British motorcar fetishists, as anyone who has ever watched this long-running import can attest. But be alert, “Top Gear” fans: BBC America is moving Feb. 29 to Channel 263, way up there on digital cable.
“quarterlife” (Feb. 26, NBC) rides in on a full head of hype. From the creators of “thirtysomething” comes not just another show with a lowercase title, but “the first network-quality series that was produced first for the Internet.” Wow! Not only that, I'm told that “quarterlife” has a “commitment to realism” about “coming of age in the 21st century.” Personally, it looks like a show that old people might make about young people. But what do I know? Parents, if your kids start watching this show and find its “commitment to realism” as solid as the PR department does, tell me, OK? Just look me up on Facebook.
