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February 2007
“NOT Dancing with the Stars”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
More like “Big Fraidy-Cat.”
OK, that’s probably not fair. In fact, it probably was a good idea of Vincent Pastore — aka, the late, great “Sopranos” character “Big Pussy” to withdraw from “Dancing with the Stars” Wednesday. After one week of rehearsals/practice, Pastore said he hadn’t realized how much of a strain many more weeks of waltzing and rhumba-ing would put on his 60-year-old, body-by-pasta person.
“When I initially committed to joining ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ I didn’t realize just how physically demanding it would be for me,” Pastore said in a statement released by ABC. “Unable to put forth my best effort, I felt it appropriate to step aside and give someone else the opportunity.”
No word yet on whether ABC will replace him. If they do, may we humbly suggest Joe Pantoliano, the Emmy-winning actor whose whiny, insane “Sopranos” character, Ralph Cifaretto, also ended up sleeping with the fishes (Actually, he ended up cut up and stuffed inside a bowling ball bag, but why split rhetorical hairs?) Pantoliano’s a wiry little guy who probably won’t find lots of dipping unduly taxing. Plus, he’s a real cut-up, ha, ha.
Meanwhile, if Pastore did the “appropriate” thing in withdrawing, the same can’t be said for the tabloid TV show “Extra.” It obtained an “exclusive” interview with another “Dancing” contestant, Heather Mills, that it says will air Wednesday. By now, most people know that the estranged wife of former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, has an artificial leg. But it seems “Extra” thought we needed to know even more, having asked Mills if there’s a chance her leg will “come off” during the competition.
“It’s very unlikely my leg is going to fly off, although it would be quite funny,” Mills said, according to “Extra’s” breathless press release. “I’ll have a strap on which I wouldn’t normally in everyday life.”
Maybe Pastore was smart to get offstage when he did.
Call Your Mother…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Call your mother and tell her you need her. Her and her “creative way of expressing a point of view about issues in the world.”
That, apparently, is one of the categories in the upcoming reality show, “Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants.” Brought to you at some vaguely defined time in the future by the CW — the same high-minded network that next Tuesday will unleash another female-empowering reality show, “The Pussycat Dolls Present the Search for the Next Doll” — this is an eight-episode series featuring mother-daughter teams working together to win a beauty pageant. Think of it as “The Amazing Race: All-Plastic Edition.”
And think of this as a public service announcement for anyone out there itching to enter. The CW will hold open casting calls for would-be dream teams in four cities starting this weekend. And the CW’s mama clearly didn’t raise no fool, because three of the four cities are located in the Deep South, where we grow beauty queens like red velvet cake. Or something like that. Anyway, Atlanta, unfortunately, isn’t among them, meaning Lun Lun and Mei Lan will have to travel up or down I-95 a stretch if they want to enter: To Raleigh or Orlando (both March 3). Dallas and Phoenix are the other options on March 10.
There’s more info on the CW’s web site at www.CWTV.com. Be aware that you must be 18 or over to compete — that’s mothers AND daughters (no adorable babies allowed to gurgle and totally skew the outcome). And that the categories in which the teams will compete include “expressing a ‘style’ for the mother-daughter team via clothing and swimwear” and “the big pageant show dance number.” Plus that whole “world issues” thing. Since I wasn’t exactly sure what any of that meant, I turned to the wisest person I know — Mother Serf — who promptly e-mailed me back:
” ‘Creative ways of expressing a point of view about issues in the world?’ … I think that’s like when you and I get together to drink wine and talk about how everyone we know is a complete idiot.”
I don’t think we’ll be entering.
An Inconvenient-er Truth
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Is it over yet?
No, not Celine Dion’s “world premiere” of the droopy ballad, “I Knew I Loved You.” Rather, the 79th Annual Academy Awards, which the song popped up in just before 11 p.m. Sunday. Or, by my estimation, about a third of the way through the show that seemed determined to go on until it was time to roll out the red carpet for the 80th Annual Academy Awards.
Yes, I watched. Despite having written a column in Sunday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution in which, as the TV critic for this great newspaper, I called on Hollywood to stop televising the Oscars. A bold statement from which I then apparently retreated. What can I say? I was caught up in a wave of national excitement for the annual celebration of … oh, OK, The Evil Overlord (aka my editor) made me watch.
And I’m glad I did. Because truth be told, I’d been feeling the teensiest twinge of guilt during the day at having mocked the Oscars so roundly ahead of the fact. Less suspenseful than a non-binding House resolution, I’d jeered! Lasts longer than all of Britney’s rehab stays added together! There were even some total low-blow wisecracks about the show featuring “interpretive dancing” and the average Oscar telecast not being as entertaining as the worst episode of “America’s Funniest Home Videos.”
Turns out I wasn’t tough enough. Oh sure, Sunday night’s telecast started out offering some brief glimmers of hope. No matter how you feel about Alan Arkin stealing the best supporting actor Oscar out of Eddie Murphy’s hands at the last minute, you gotta admit, it was a big surprise. And only a mere 90 minutes into the show! And that Will Ferrell/Jack Black/John C. Reilly original song about the Academy Awards’ penchant for snubbing funny movies that — God forbid — make so much money they actually keep Hollywood in business to turn out boring drivel like “Babel,” came out of a very hilarious part of left field. And it underscored something I’d written about how the Oscars would be markedly improved if only they’d let the big stars do what they do best — perform live - as happens at the Grammys and Tonys.
Had the show’s producers actually listened to me and a whole nation of armchair critics for once? That not-so-humble thought occurred to me …. and then came the first “interpretive dance.” Oscar host Ellen DeGeneres used that exact phrase the first time the Pilobolus dance troupe appeared like shadow puppets behind a big screen, twisting and bending their bodies to form a giant Oscar statue. On and on it went all night with them turning themselves into a handgun in honor of “The Departed,” a stiletto heel (“The Devil Wears Prada”) and other symbolic representations of nominated films. It was awfully impressive. And awfully close to self-parody.
Next came Celine, during an endless tribute to longtime film composer Ennio Morricone. He received an honorary Oscar, which, considering his musical resume - “A Fistful of Dollars,” “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” — was a great idea. Not so great: Breaking up Clint Eastwood’s lengthy Morricone career recap (complete with clips) with Dion singing a song never heard anywhere before. It’s as if someone somewhere said, “Hey, the Oscars aren’t already long enough what with the winners blathering on and on and all the nominated songs we have to get in. Let’s give an additional four minutes to another song that has nothing to do with the previous year in films.”
And don’t even get me started on Morricone’s speech. It was all in Italian. With periodic l-o-o-n-g and extremely awkward pauses so that Eastwood could “translate” (Morricone would talk for five minutes, gesticulating wildly, Eastwood would mumble something like, “He’s down with it”). It’s not that I begrudge the man his honor (he seemed genuinely touched, teary eyes being a universal language). Nor did I expect him to learn English just so he could pick up his gold statue in front of the likes of J-Lo and Joan Rivers. But again, it’s tortuous enough that we have to listen to people thanking their agents and hairdressers in English. This badly thought-out moment took double the amount of time as the usual thank-you speech and left viewers scratching their heads. I finally gave up trying to make sense of it and amused myself by imagining that Eastwood had no idea what Morricone was really saying: “Gawd, will this show ever end? Which galaxy did Jennifer Hudson’s gold jacket beam in from? Somebody bring me a big Chianti, pronto, prego!”
I don’t want to say that this Academy Awards was the TV equivalent of watching paint dry. I DO want to say it was the one where they gave two of their biggest awards — best documentary and best original song — to a filmed-version of a slide show. There’s hope for my third grade teacher yet! Al Gore and his “Inconvenient Truth” may well end up saving the planet, but if we’re all dead from boredom, what will it matter?
Let’s hope Pilobolus is still around to do an interpretive dance on our graves.
Does Oscar get sleepy?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lord, we’re tired! If you made it through the entire Oscar show last night, we bet you are too.
Sunday’s 79th Annual Academy Awards had some great moments, but come on! Does it really have to take that long?
Is it time for the Academy crowd to get a clue that most of the world has to go to work the next day?
[ Jill Vejnoska’s take: They should have listened to me ]
If you were in charge, how would you fix the Oscar telecast?
All You Really Need to Know About Britney….
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
…. can be found in “Late, Late Show” Craig Ferguson’s heartfelt monologue delivered in his trademark Scottish burr late Wednesday night, early Thursday morning on CBS. For more than 12 minutes, Ferguson amusingly, honestly and most important — caringly — spoke of his own hard-won battle to achieve sobriety 15 years ago and his more recent soul-searching over the ease with which we make light of celebrities’ very real problems. As someone who’s paid handsomely to riff on everyone from Anna Nicole Smith to Kevin Costner, he didn’t absolve himself of blame — merely talked unself-righteously about how and why he was starting to draw the line, starting with Britney Spears.
“This woman has two kids, she’s 25-years-old,” Ferguson told his studio audience, which couldn’t break the giggling habit at the beginning of his monologue, but later grew respectfully quiet and then seemed almost eager to hear what he’d say next. “She’s a baby herself. She’s a BABY.”
While emphasizing he didn’t excuse Spears of the responsibility of dealing with what clearly seem like addiction problems, Ferguson showed a lot more compassion than most people towards a woman considered a spoiled-rotten superstar — “You can’t beat it with money” — and offered some free advice, seemingly to anyone rich, poor or somewhere in between who was wrestling with similar demons.
“The only way I could deal with it is to fiind other people who have similar experiences and talk to them … They’re very easy to find. They’re very near the front of the phone book. Good luck.”
In a followup interview on CBS’s “The Early Show,” Ferguson expressed quiet amazement “that not poking fun at people becomes a news story. I’m going to poke fun at people who need being poked fun at. And I don’t think this girl needs being poked fun at right now.”
You can catch both clips on YouTube. Search for “Ferguson Speaks From the Heart” and “Eye to Eye with Craig Ferguson on Spears.”
“Extreme” Airdate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Good morning, ‘Extreme Makeover’!”
Actually, it’ll be the night of March 11th when Waleska, Georgia, finally gets its nationally televised closeup on the popular make-a-dream-house-come-true show. ABC has just revealed that’s when it will air the episode starring the Tipton-Smith family and their once-humble Cherokee County abode.
It was very early in the a.m. on January 11 when the “Makeover” motorcade of SUV’s, a tour bus and a police escort made its way into the Lake Arrowhead community where Faith Tipton-Smith has spent the past two years rebuilding her home and family after a string of personal tragedies, including the death of her 16-year-old son in a car crash. Former Atlantan and current “Makeover” star Ty Pennington was aiming a bullhorn out the bus window, bellowing the signature “Good morning!” cry that lets deserving families know they’ve been selected for one of the show’s rapid-fire complete home improvement jobs.
It took a week for Pennington et al to work their magic on the house that was ravaged by a fire several months before Ransom Tipton’s death in the head-on car crash. While the “Makover” team labored — ably assisted by thousands of local volunteers and seven figures worth of donated supplies and equipment — the family was sent on a vacation to Costa Mesa, California. When they returned on January 19, Tipton-Smith and daughters Missy Tipton, 16, and Emily Smith, 8, got their first look at the renovated house, which now has six bedrooms, 5-1/2 baths and an outdoor memorial to Ransom.
The rest of us will finally get our look at 8 p.m. on March 11.
“Dancing Fools”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What, no Howard K. Stern?
Sorry, guess I’m just so accustomed to seeing the late Anna Nicole Smith’s lawyer/alleged hubby/would-be burial choreographer on TV 24/7, I naturally assumed he’d be one of the contestants on the fourth “Dancing with the Stars.” But apparently he can’t go anywhere without Anna Nicole. Literally.
And it seems ABC has higher standards for its surprise hit reality show that returns next Monday with a special two-hour episode. No one in the new cast announced live on “Good Morning America” mere moments ago could legitimately be described as a hack or hanger-on. Which doesn’t mean the Serf didn’t have to consult her Who’s Who of Demi-Celebrities to figure out where a few of them had been for the last decade or so:
Ian Ziering, Paulina Porizkova, Shandi Finnessey, come on down! Porkizkova’s a former supermodel/Sports Illustrated swimsuit covergirl long married to The Cars’ Ric Ocasek; Ziering was Steve Sanders on “Beverly Hills 90210,” or as you might better remember him, the Guy Who Looked Like a 35-Year-Old Going to High School. Finnessey was Miss USA 2004 and the mere fact that I had to tell you that means she doesn’t have some juicy The Donald-Sent-Me-To-Rehab scandal in her past, so really, who cares?
A few of the other contestants’ name had leaked out well before Season 3 “dancer” Jerry Springer started revealing their i.d.’s to a GMA host team that feigned surprise each and every time: Billy “Achy Breaky Heart” Cyrus, Joey “Ex-n’Syncer” Fatone, Leila “Women’s Middleweight Boxing Champ” Ali and Leeza “Leeza” Gibbons.
And since athletes are as de rigeur on “Dancing” as country singers and boy banders, we also get ex-NBA great Clyde Drexler and five-time Olympic short track ice skating medalist Apolo Anton Ono (Here’s hoping he wears his crash helmet and periodically runs onstage to barrel into other dancers just like he does in his racers).
But there was at least one major surprise: Lumbering actor Vincent Pastore, last seen drowning in the ocean (and I don’t mean an ocean of marinara) on “The Sopranos” as the late, great “Big Pussy” will try to rub out the competition. Personally, if I were that weeny little judge Bruno (aka Mr. “Hot, Hot, Hot!”) , I’d be commiting the phrase “Who says big men can’t move beautifully, Vinny?” to memory right now.
And then there’s the sentimental choice. If, by sentimental, you mean “The best tabloid fodder name we at ABC could get and still look like we’re doing something noble”: Ladies and gentlemen (and one very particular Sir), it’s Heather Mills, estranged wife of Sir Paul McCartney and well-known disabilities advocate, having herself lost a leg in an accident years ago.
The latter fact led Springer to say, “There’s a lot of message in that: People, whatever challenge they face, can dance. She might be a favorite.” To which “GMA” host Diane Sawyer couldn’t help but append, with big ratings stars clearly shining in her eyes, “But [she’s] also in the middle of a big brouhaha.”
The Serf’s hoping for a Big Pussy-Heather Mills final showdown. With Sir Paul McCartney and Tony Soprano in the audience. Loser goes home with the guy who done ‘em wrong. Talk about Hot, Hot, Hot!
Charles Barkley Is Running
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Not for governor of Alabama. Not yet, anyway.
No, right now, Charles Barkley is busy removing his foot from his mouth so he can participate in a one-on-one, winner-take-all-the-gloating-rights, nationally televised footrace against … a 67-year-old man. But since the man, Dick Bavetta, is a veteran NBA referee, don’t bet too heavily on the 43-year-old Sir Charles. Even if it IS all happening in Las Vegas.
The race will be shown during TNT’s coverage of the NBA All-Star festivities Saturday night. No word on exactly when it will take place during six hours of festivities that start with a special edition of “Inside the NBA” live (featuring Barkley) from Caesars Palace at 5 p.m. and conclude at 11 p.m. after the Sprite Slam Dunk champion is crowned. In between comes stuff like the Three-Point Shootout, and undoubtedly, plenty of reruns of Barkley uttering the words that got him into this particular pickle.
It happened on January 4, when Barkley subbed for regular TNT game announcer Steve Kerr in a Lakers-Kings game officiated by Bavetta. When Barkley opined on-air, “I can outrun Bavetta right now,” a challenge was born.
Barkley and Bavetta will race 78.3 yards — baseline-to-baseline, and then to the half-court line — at Las Vegas’s Thomas & Mack Arena. This being Sin City, there’s money on the line — fortunately, what’s raised in Vegas stays in Vegas as the NBA and TNT will each donate $25,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Las Vegas.
At the moment, the Serf is leaning towards Barkley to win. Admittedly, she’s biased, having interviewed the man on a couple of hilarious occasions, and even dined with him in 2003 when the NBA All-Star Game was held here in Atlanta (OK, I actually sat a table away from him and his party, which included Tiger Woods, in a downtown restaurant. But we had the same waiter, so it was like we dined together. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. )
On the other hand, no less an authority than reigning two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash, isn’t so sure. “It better be a short race, because if it’s a long race, I think Bavetta has got him licked,” Nash says.
One other thing. Knowing Barkley’s, uh, competitive instincts, I checked with the folks at Turner to make sure he wouldn’t get a bunch of do-overs. No way, they assured. The race will be run just once, and it will be aired live.
And there’s no guarantee when — or if — Barkley will stop talking about it afterwards.
Passing the Tiki (Barber) Torch
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Who says there’s no future in being good-looking, smart, athletically gifted and very rich? Thank goodness, we can all stop worrying about what’s going to happen to poor old Tiki Barber now that he’s gained his last yard in the NFL.
On Monday, the great New York Giants running back officially retired (meaning he filled out all the necessary paperwork, the NFL apparently being more complicated to get away from than the IRS). And on Tuesday, NBC reportedly will announce that he’s joining the network in both news AND sports capacities. That’s it? What, he can’t also grow an aqualung at will and guest star on “Heroes” whenever they need him?
NBC, that oh-so-coy network where Donald Trump’s mouth has found a permanent home, is being uncharacteristically cagey about this. They merely sent out an announcement a little while ago about a press conference Tuesday to introduce a “major talent.” It’ll take place at 11:30 a.m. in New York, and you clearly have to be super-important to attend. Or not. After all, the announcement did arrive to the Serf’s humble in-box. And the whole press conference also will be carried live on NBCSports.com. But within the past few minutes, two New York-based newspapers — the Times and Newsday — both confirmed the hiring, citing unnamed sources who just couldn’t help squealing (hmm, they wouldn’t be named “Donald” and “Trump,” would they?).
Barber, 31, reportedly will play some role in NBC’s Sunday night football broadcasts. But what’s more intriguing is that he’ll be a news correspondent for the “Today” show. Whereas most retired athletes are content to sit back and pontificate about sports, apparently Barber wants to get down there in the trenches with the rest of us ink-stained wretches, chasing the big stories and interviews. Not a bad idea, considering he rushed for a combined 3,500 yards the past two seasons. Who’s gonna be able to get away from him, hee, hee!
Meanwhile, what’s next, Algie Crumpler covering television? Hmm, “Crump and the Serf.” Kinda has a nice ring to it.
Grammys “Cop” Bigger Ratings
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
An emergency call to the Police seems to have paid off for the Grammys.
(Not that fleeing “American Idol’s” neighborhood exactly hurt, either.)
Sunday’s three-plus hour live broadcast of the 49th Annual Grammy Awards on CBS averaged 20.06 million viewers, over three million more than watched last year’s show. That one aired on a Wednesday night, opposite “American Idol,” and without this year’s much-publicized opening act — a sizzling performance of “Roxanne” by the reunited Police. But it also bettered the 18.8 million who watched the show in 2005.
Besides Sting and the boys, other live Grammy performers included Mary J. Blige, Gnarls Barkley and the Dixie Chicks. That proved a bit too much even for the “Desperate Housewives” to handle; some 18 million people watched Sunday’s new goings-on on Wisteria Lane. But NBC and “The Apprentice” took a much bigger hit, as only 6.4 million people stuck around to hear “You’re fired.”
Maybe it’s time Donald Trump called the Police.
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“Quite Ready for Prime Time” Oprah
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Are those pigs I see flying overhead?
The unthinkable has happened: The best, most natural “Oprah Winfrey Show” subject ever is coming to TV … but NOT on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”
Not the daytime version, that is. Doubtless you’ve heard all about the girls school Oprah has devoted years and millions of dollars to building from scratch in South Africa. Well now that it’s come to fruition, it’s the subject of an upcoming prime time special, “Building A Dream: The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy” that will air at 10 p.m. Feb. 26 on ABC. Produced by and prominently featuring … Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters.
HA, HA, just kidding! Winfrey herself is the executive producer of the show, which comes from her company, Harpo Productions. By my count, that brings to four the number of nighttime gigs she’s got going with ABC: Besides “Building A Dream,” there’s her first prime time Oscar special airing Feb. 22, and two “alternative” (aka reality) series she and Harpo are making: “Oprah Winfrey’s The Big Give” and “Your Money or Your Life.”
Which naturally raises a couple of intriguing questions: With so much going on at night, how can Winfrey keep finding time to produce, star in and probably individually pick the audience members for her toprated daytime program? And how long before she takes over ABC at night completely? I can just see the reconstituted lineup now: “Winfrey’s Anatomy” … “According to Oprah” … “Dancing with the Winfrey.”
Eat your heart out, Trump. And pay attention in Leadership Academy, kids.
Found: “Lost”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I don’t like to brag or act all superior to the rest of the world (aka “the Others”). But I’ve seen Wednesday night’s brand new, finally-back-from-its-three-month-break episode of “Lost.”
(Oops, guess I DO like bragging and acting all superior. So sorry. But … not really.)
First things first: Starting this week, “Lost” airs at 10 p.m. not 9 p.m. That’s good news for anyone who caught Part 1 of James Van Der Beek’s tour-de-farce performance on CBS’s “Criminal Minds” on Super Bowl Sunday, since the conclusion airs Wednesday at 9 p.m. (And if you missed it, I can catch you up lickety-split: The onetime brooding Dawson’s Creek-er is all grown up now and just another “typical” Southern nutjob/serial murderer living in a barn smack in a middle of an Atlanta cornfield (?). It comes complete with wall-to-wall high-tech computer equipment and shackels he used to imprison a nubile young woman in Part 1 before settin’ a pack o’ dogs on her. Thanks, CBS. That little image boost totally makes up for the NFL not awarding us any more Super Bowls).
Which brings us to “Lost,” which — for all the complaining that’s gone on about its looong hiaitus, many unanswered questions and disturbing lack of “American Idol” references — is Shakespearean by comparison. With a little “Sophie’s Choice” thrown into the mix, courtesy of a somewhat heartbreaking scene near the end that makes you wonder if or when a couple of key characters ever might see each other again.
Meanwhile, the producers and ABC seem to have taken fairly seriously complaints that the show had drifted off-course in its first six episodes last fall. I’m not going to lie to you: Save for the de rigeur flashbacks (this time to Juliet’s earlier life in Miami) the entire episode still takes place on The Others’ secret offshoot island. But enough happens to make you think that they’re trying to bring that interlude and its attendant mysteries to at least something resembling a semi-conclusion in the not-too-distant future. Which is pretty much the most you can hope for from “Lost.”
There’s also a couple of scenes that suggest you cross the women of “Lost” at your own peril. In particular, if Jack Bauer would only adopt the shotgun-wielding Kate’s (Evangeline Lilly) determined approach to, uh, “coaxing” vital information out of tough guys, “24” would be able to wrap things up in about two hours each season. There’s also one long shot of gritty survivors paddling away in a boat that had me alternately sighing sadly and wondering where Jeff Probst was with his stupid immunity idol.
Can “Lost” survive its three-month absence? Or will viewers decide to vote it off the ratings island? We’ll know sometime on Thursday morning. Unless, that is, we wander too close to James Van Der Beek’s creepy cornfield …
Super Serf Special Edition!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Boy, and we thought the TRAFFIC in Atlanta was insane!
Apparently, the criminals here are even more twisted and loopy than Spaghetti Junction at rush hour on the Friday before Labor Day. At least that’s what we’re assuming Sunday’s extra-special edition of the creepy CBS drama “Criminal Minds” will show the world. CBS announced last month that the fast-rising show would get the much coveted time slot right after the Super Bowl, when so many people watch whatever’s on, it makes “American Idol” look like “According to Jim’s” puny cousin. But only at the last minute did the Serf learn that the two-part show concerns a grusome murder that takes place at a Super Bowl party right here in Atlanta! (It’s all made-up of course. At least — gulp — I hope it is.)
Anyway, CBS says the murder victims on the show are rich, which means their (pretend) home will probably turn out to be some opulent Buckhead mansion. That makes our city look good and prosperous and home to its own thriving mega-airline (take that, U.S. Air, nyah!). On the other hand, the murderer apparently is a crazy guy who puts his murders on the Internet, all the while spitting out Biblical phrases — which sounds like one of those stereotypical depictions of “backward” Southerners that Hollywood loves so much. Maybe he’ll be shoeless and muching Bar-B-Q, too.
Who knows? We’ll just have to wait till Sunday to see (CBS didn’t provide advance copies of the show to critics or Serfs). Meanwhile, this rather grimfaced crime show seems like an odd choice to air at the conclusion of a typical “Let’s Everybody Party!” Super Bowl Sunday — until you dig a little deeper into it. Read our story in Sunday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution Arts section to see why CBS selected it and how other post-Super Bowl shows have fared in the past decade, ratings-wise.
OK, that’s for after the big game. But what if you want to watch something else while the game is going on? Or just at halftime? Check out Saturday’s Living section for our list of the top five wacky TV viewing alternatives on Super Bowl Sunday. Here’s a little tease: They include puppies, people taking their pants off and other people knitting outfits for their toilets.
And none of them have been the subject of a “Criminal Minds” episode. Not yet, anyway, heh, heh!
