2003 Year in Review

New Fall Shows

I usually keep pretty busy, but I’ve had a few minutes to watch some of the new shows this fall. I haven’t seen too many, and I have a feeling quite a few will be gone before I even know what they are. One of the ones I’m really enjoying is “A Minute With Stan Hooper” starring Norm McDonald on FOX. He plays a big city television journalist who decides to move to Waterford Falls, Wisconsin, (small town life with the cheese heads). Wednesday night’s episode he found out women do not even have the right to vote. I think it’s very funny. It reminds me of the old Bob Newhart show in the Inn.

“Karen Sisco”, Wednesdays on ABC, has interested me. I like strong women roles and Carla Gugino plays a U.S. Marshal in Florida. She’s a very self-confident woman (doesn’t even need back up). I’ve also watched a couple episodes of “Las Vegas”, Mondays on NBC, the story of a Las Vegas family and their casino. It’s an O.K. show if nothing else is on. James Caan is very good as Ed, the Don-like father. The other night we caught a new show on ABC called 10-8 about an LA Sheriff department’s rookies and their trainers. It was pretty good and I’ll probably catch it again.

I hate to admit it but I do watch reality T.V. They hooked me and there are a few that I enjoy. My daughter and I are the only ones that watch “The Bachelor” at our house though. Charlie is down to his last two women and I think he’s chosen Kelly Jo, a sweet thing from Michigan. Wednesday night he went dog sledding on an Alaska glacier with her. Life’s tough! But I always feel sorry for the girls that fall in love and then get booted off the show. I never got into this years “Survivor”, but I understand there are going to be more twists and turns on it.

I also previewed “Average Joe”, the show about a beauty queen that is introduced to 16 not-so-attractive men. It was pretty funny to see her try to smile even though the “princess” was meeting a bunch of “frogs”. There will be a rebroadcast Saturday, Nov. 8 if you missed and really care. I think she did a terrible job choosing whom to eliminate. There were some real weird characters on the show like the guy who asked her, “Do you like broccoli?” and that was the extent of his one-on-one time with her.

I have two shows I try to never miss, one is “24”, Tuesdays on Fox. Keifer Sutherland plays a CTU agent who is always at the center of a huge catastrophe about to happen and he is the only person that can save Los Angeles. Each episode is 1 hour in real time. “24” reminds me of reading a good book because it’s able to show more detail than a 2-hour movie. This year’s show is about a biological weapon that would kill a million people in Los Angeles within 24 hours unless Salazar is released from prison.

My other favorite show is “Alias”, Sundays on ABC. I like shows that have a continuing story procession like “X-Files” and it also has a strong female lead in Jennifer Gardner. She can look like a sex kitten one minute and then destroy 3 male adversaries the next. This year’s subplot is that Jennifer is a CIA agent who has been missing for two years and has no memory of it. But her father who also works for the CIA has a video of her murdering someone. Everyone around her is looking for the murderer. But then each week she also has a mission that goes along with the story line.

by Barb Benson, theCity1.com
November 7, 2003