Thursday's TV - Delightful

Well, it's that time again...Thursday shows to watch, and, shockingly, there are a bunch of them!

My Boys - TBS at 9:30 pm. Tonight's episode is entitled "Opportunity Knocks," and apparently there's finally some fallout from Andy acting like a DB. Also, P.J. dates Bobby's brother...interesting. I don't know about this show. it was really good and cute and funny last year, this year, yeah...not so much. I think it's been getting better slowly over the past two episodes, hopefully tonight that trend will continue. You can watch a preview of the episode here.

Burn Notice - USA Network at 10 pm. Hells yeah! The third episode of the season is tonight, and this show, unlike some others, started off awesome and continues to be made of awesome. Tonight's episode is called "Trust Me" and in it Michael uses himself as bait for a con artist. I hope he's shirtless bait. Or at least wearing a wife beater at some point. Seriously, how can you not think this is awesome:

and, now imagine it without the shirt and jacket...I'll wait. Yeah, that was worth it, right? (Sorry any non-gay men-folk who may be reading right now).

The Daily Show and The Colbert Report - 11:00 and 11:30 pm on Comedy Central. Well, I'm not going to lie. I'm still pretty upset that I missed Ed Helms' triumphant return to TDS to talk about his boner and Obama (O-Boner) and pretty much anytime I've watched the show this week, I've been disappointed by the lack of Ed. Sometimes watching Ed's old correspondent pieces on comedycentral.com helps me through my pain, sometimes it just makes it worse...but a girl can dream, can't she? Maybe he'll show up tonight? If I wish hard enough, will it happen (TWSS)? Irregardless, I know Stephen will do his best to fill the empty void in my heart, with his adorable giggling and ridiculous antics. Check out the break down after he says "lamb cartilage." Delicious.

Seriously, he's been laughing all week, hasn't he? He's the cutest. Anyway, tonight, TCR's guest is Garrett Reisman, the astronaut who you may remember from this fantastic interview Stephen did with him back in May (see video below), so you know Stephen will be uber-excited and giddy.


Also, I'll be watching some TiVoed shows, if I have the time, which I should, as there's no Yankees baseball on to interrupt my usual TV watching schedule. These shows include the episode of Law and Order: CI, in which Stephen Colbert guest starred, which I recorded on Tuesday night and Monday's episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, in which he travels to Saudi Arabia to travel with the person who won the fan contest. I'm very interested to see Saudi Arabia through the eyes of someone who lives there, as opposed to what we get on TV from the news (or other sources), so I'm hoping they did it justice. I'm sure they did. Tony wouldn't slack off...well...

July 10 Might Be the Best Day for TV Ever

I was going to post a programming reminder tomorrow, but I wanted to give all you lovell folks an extra day to set your TiVos. Here we go...

Thursday, July 10, 2008
Ed Helms - On "Today" during the 10-11am hour
"The Office" webisodes begin at nbc.com
"My Boys" - episode at 9:30 pm on TBS
"Burn Notice" season premiere on USA at 10 pm
Ed Helms - on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" at 12:35 pm on NBC

Iko's Favorite Shows - Summer TV Edition!

One great thing about summer is you finally get to take a break from your couch and TV to go outside and frolic. I, for instance, will be going to see a taping of "The Daily Show," a concert or two, some Yankees games, and assorted other outings, all of which (I'm sure) I will blog about at great length right here. Yeah, so, look forward to that guys. However, I've recently noticed a trend by some of the cable networks to play new episodes of original shows during the summer.* This way, you don't have to leave your comfy couch and beautifully, central-air conditioned home during the summer. Why go outside and sweat profusely when there's something new to watch? Here are a few shows I'm looking forward to this summer:

1. "Burn Notice"

I think that picture of Jeffrey Donovan is all you really need to be convinced to watch the show. Oh, what was that? You're not a woman or a gay man? OK, here's another reason: Bruce Campbell's in it. Yes, that's right - Bruce Campbell. The show is basically about an ex-spy who got burned (kicked out of the CIA with no warning) and dropped in Miami. He can't leave Miami or the people that burned him will hurt his family and friends. So, he's stuck in FL, doing odd spy jobs for people to make some cash, all the while trying to figure out who burned him and why. Sound good? Actually, it's even better than I described it. I promise. Seriously, watch it this summer, or at least set your TiVo to Season Pass it. As a bonus, you can play a fun drinking game while watching - take a shot for every gratuitous Jeffrey Donovan shirtless scene. Good for the eyes, not so good for the liver. Who am I kidding, Jeffrey Donovan shirtless is pretty much the only reason I watch the show. Thursdays at 10 pm on USA, starting July 10.**

2. "My Boys"

"My Boys" is about a female sports writer, living in Chicago, covering Cubs baseball. PJ's a tomboy, with a bunch of guy friends and one girly-girl friend. The show mainly follows PJ and her interactions with her friends, but started focusing on the other characters a little bit, too (probably when they realized they were coming back for another season). Honestly, it's not the strongest of shows, but it's on par with most stuff on TV now, and it's awesome as a light, fun, summer show. I'm a big baseball fan, so I like the baseball references PJ works into her voiceovers for each show. Plus, I think the guys are actually pretty funny - especially when they're all in a group together. I think the show will probably be better this season, being that the cast has gotten to know each other and actually become friends in real-life. Hopefully that chemistry will be magnified on screen. If not, it's still a fun summer show. Plus, if you go to the shows' Myspace page, you can play with the "Manslator." Awesome. Although, to be fair, I think anything with the word "man" in front of it is funny. Season 2 starts June 12th, I think at 10 pm on TBS.

3. "Psych"

I started watching this show as an afterthought. It was on after "Monk" and I thought it looked funny, so I left the TV on. Who am I kidding? I was too lazy to contract my abs and sit up straight to be able to reach the remote on my coffee table. Regardless, I really like this show, and recently, it's been infinitely better than "Monk." I love Tony Shaloub, but the writer's need to step up their game and refocus the show on Monk finding Trudy's killer, enough already. Seriously. Anyway, "Psych." The show is about two childhood friends, Shawn and Gus, who open a psychic detective agency, because Shawn needs a job, has a photographic memory, and is good at solving crimes (thanks to his retired detective dad (Corbin Bernsen) training him from a young age) and acting like he's psychic. Gus is basically the straight man and lends some credibility to their psychic crime-solving. The two of them are often hired by the police department as consultants to help solve crimes, hilarity ensues, and bad guys go to jail. The show is good, frivolous fun, but has an underlying heart and an endearing quality most shows on major networks don't have. Plus, James Roday and Dule Hill have great chemistry with one another and the show ABOUNDS with fantastic 80's and 90's pop culture references (another drinking game, perhaps? Yes, I'm an alcoholic). Season 3 starts July 18 at 10 pm on USA.

4. Baseball! More specifically, Yankees baseball. But, you can clearly watch whichever team you prefer, I won't judge you. How could I? I spend all summer watching TV and drinking. My lazy ass shouldn't judge anyone.*** What's better than a burger, a beer (cider), and baseball on TV on a Saturday afternoon in the summer? I don't really think anything.


*Yes, I realize this has actually been a trend for long before I even had a blog or noticed this phenomenon. I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes.
**USA will probably replay the first season throughout late June and early July. I highly recommend watching it before starting in on Season 2.
***Except those contestants on "Top Chef" who should have gone home a long time ago.