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My "Breaking Bad" Interview Breaks Today on NPR's "Fresh Air"
Today on NPR's "Fresh Air with Terry Gross," I interview Vince Gilligan, the creator of AMC's fabulous, and delightfully unpredictable, drama series "Breaking Bad." It reminds me, all over again, why I love being associated with "Fresh Air"... (more)
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
AMERICAN IDOL Fox, 8 p.m. ET The paring continues: Tonight the Top 8 young women sing for spots in next week’s Top 12. Tomorrow, the eight remaining young men do the same. Do the math (16-12=4), and 25 percent of tonight’s singers will be eliminated Thursday. |
90210 CW, 8 p.m. ET SERIES RETURN: Not a recommendation, just a notation. This series returns after several months of dormancy, and returns with a standard TV eye-opener: a woman who attempts to seduce her prey by showing up wearing nothing but a trench coat, and dropping the trench coat. |
LOST ABC, 9 p.m. ET Last week ended with the smoke monster in the shape of Locke – or, as I call him, Un-Locke – leading his followers out into the jungle. Tonight, the plot centers on Ben, who once did the same thing. But that was another time. |
THE GOOD WIFE CBS, 10 p.m. ET Peter’s reintroduction to the household hasn’t gone all that swimmingly. His kids have let him in on some key secrets, but Alicia is keeping her distance. Yet even from that distance, she’s noticing things. |
PARENTHOOD NBC, 10 p.m. ET In this second episode, Lauren Graham continues to shine – as when her daughter reveals to her that she’s being held back at her new high school. Suddenly, the mom who felt so distant suddenly becomes protective – and fierce. |
Travel Channel; 10 p.m. ET SERIES PREMIERE: Camille Ford hosts this new series, which brings blind taste tests to legendary local eatery battles. In the opener: Buffalo, N.Y., the home of Buffalo wings, pits Anchor Bar and Duff’s in a battle for bragging rights. |
FOOD WARS 
DVD THIS WEEK: Polyester cheese!
READ THIS: Oscar mania accelerates
DVD THIS WEEK: Alice's TV wonderland
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FOR BETTER OR WERTS
Sometimes you just need to watch something awful. Shut down your brain. Let the recycled plots, banal dialogue and bad acting wash over you. Maybe even mock it madly, MST3K-style. What you need is Matt Houston. The first season of ABC's 1982-85 private eye romp arrives on DVD this week as the ne plus ultra of the Aaron Spelling school of celeb-stuffed cheese. Here it is in a nutshell: Mustachioed wisecracker Lee Horsley channels Smokey and the Bandit-era Burt Reynolds, playing a Texas oil gazillionaire moved to Hollywood to solve murders among his famous friends. He flies his own helicopter from his rodeo ranch . . . 
Just like the Super Bowl, there's always overkill when it comes to the Oscars. Which take place this coming Sunday (8:30 p.m. ET on ABC), in case you missed the 7,000 promos, ads, pre-shows and other assorted hype/hoopla. But this story about the Oscars caught my eye because it seems even wackier than usual . . . 
Those wacky DVD distributors, always looking for a bandwagon to jump on. This week, it's the one led by Tim Burton's phantasmagorical movie Alice in Wonderland starring Johnny Depp, which hits theaters Friday. At least four TV versions of Alice are new on DVD, coming from networks, cable, even Britain. The choices span five decades, two chromatics, high-tech/low-tech, period pieces and contemporary settings, straightforward and reimagined. Here's a look at the lot . . . 
NEW and RECOMMENDED
People went a little crazy when rock 'n' roll living legend Elvis Presley died unexpectedly on Aug. 16, 1977 at the age of 42. Elvismaniacs went into shock and hysteria, extolling their idol into some kind of god-like icon. Elvis skeptics hit back, mocking his cheesy Vegas jumpsuits, cookie-cutter '60s flicks, prosaic post-Army music output, and wasted potential. There wasn't much middle ground -- until John Carpenter's Elvis miniseries hit ABC on Feb. 11, 1979. Nobody expected much. The 31-year-old director was coming off a low-budget frightfest called Halloween. The star had been a child actor known for Disney drivel like The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes. But Kurt Russell turned around his own image by turning the iconic/insipid emblem into a full-bodied human being . . . CLASSICS TO CONSIDER Unauthorized TV DVD releases are a bad thing. They're often low quality. The sellers can be dodgy. They violate the legal rights of those who own the show. And they discourage official releases by diverting revenue into the hands of pirates. Now here's why I'm making an exception for The Nostalgia Merchant's two-set release of Amos 'n' Andy. The transfers from the sitcom's vintage film prints aren't bad. This particular video distributor has a 30-year track record. And it's that rare case where the show's ownership simply can't release an authorized version. There's just too much lingering controversy over this 1950s hit -- TV's first major network series with a black cast -- for rights-owning corporation CBS to go there . . . |
