Got Olympic fever yet?

I haven't watched much of NBC's Winter Olympics coverage yet (even with many of my regular shows either pre-empted or in reruns, I'd rather devote the spare viewing time to screeners of upcoming things than in watching pairs figure skating), but the ratings have been huge so far.

For those of you who've been watching so far - either NBC in primetime or the cable channels during the day - what have you thought of the coverage? Are there things NBC is doing noticeably better than at some other recent Olympics? New (or continued) sources of frustration? Have they done a good job of warning you when certain events are tape-delayed, or have you accidentally spoiled yourself on results?

Just curious. I did get sucked into USA's curling coverage this afternoon (I'm a sucker for any sport that involves elements of housecleaning), but there's no real way to dress up curling, is there?

Deja view?

"Supernatural" is one of those shows I always mean to watch more of, but due to its timeslot and the fact that more and more time passes and there are more and more episodes for me to catch up on, I suspect it's going to be one of those shows where I watch it on DVD years after it's over. For now, I've seen maybe a dozen episodes of the show across five seasons - and every time I randomly put on a repeat, as I did today with the morning TNT airing (season two's "Croatoan"), it's somehow always one I've already seen before.

I mentioned this on Twitter, and to a few friends, and all responded that this invariably happens to them with one show or another: they've only seen a small percentage of the episodes, and yet those are the only ones that ever turn up when they go looking for more.

So, three questions: 1)What show works that way for you? 2)Is there some kind of statistical theory that would explain how this happens? 3)Is/should there be a name for this specific phenomenon with TV shows?

Life Unexpected, "Turtle Undefeated": The queen of beer pong

A quick review of last night's "Life Unexpected" coming up just as soon as I have a food baby...

"Turtle Intercepted" was less prone to pilot-itis than the episodes before it. Lux never runs away from one or both parents (though Bug briefly shanghais her in the stolen car), and the conflicts were a bit more varied: Lux vs. the mean girls, Baze vs. his dad, Cate vs. her own uptight nature.

Still, I think I may wait a few weeks - or until the show does a wholly formula-busting episode - before I write another review. I'm enjoying the show, but there's not a lot of meat here right now, nor enough variation. There's only so much time I could spend observing that the drunken Cate does the exact same victory dance Baze was objecting to in an earlier scene with Lux, or that Baze and his dad's frosty relationship feels like a male, less funny version of Lorelai and Emily Gilmore.

What about the rest of you? Are you fine with the show's very familiar rhythms, or are you hoping it'll branch out already?

Men of a Certain Age, "How to Be an All-Star": Winner, winner, chicken dinner

A review of the penultimate "Men of a Certain Age" of season one coming up just as soon as I get a tool crock...

"There's a lot of stuff happening for all of us." -Owen

"Men of a Certain Age" is not a plot-driven show, and has been content to mostly run in place with the guys over the first eight episodes. But with this first season coming to a close, things finally start happening, as each guy is forced to face the limitations of who they are: Owen's not getting the dealership, even with his father stepping down; two less-talented old friends of Terry's are now vastly more successful than he is; and Joe's gambling problem has gotten so bad that he bets 25 grand with Manfro in hopes of winning a bid on a house.

Yet for Terry and Joe, their long dark nights of the soul pass fairly quickly - for now. Joe walks out on a Gamblers Anonymous meeting - he's not ready to accept his problem just yet - and discovers that he won his big bet, and in turn gets the house. And the pity job Terry's friends give him leads to an opportunity to join their middle-aged entourage.

The good luck's not going to last, that's for sure. Winning that bet got Joe the house, but it also gave him 25,000 reasons to avoid confronting his gambling problem again anytime soon. (Even Manfro looked worried for him, not just because he wasn't crazy about having to hurt Joe if he couldn't pay up, but because he does like Joe in a weird way and knows how a big bet like that, win or lose, is only going to accelerate
Joe's degeneracy.) Even Dory's understandable decision to back the hell away from him doesn't quite seem to be cutting through Joe's defenses, not when he has this nice house, and the image of his kids being happy in it, to fall back on.

And it's clear that Terry's just a flavor of the month for his ex-buddies, and that once their desire to party and make easy money conflicts with Terry's commitment to craft, he'll be back fixing clogged drains - only Annie should be gone because Terry once again flaked on a commitment to her (and didn't even remember/acknowledge that he was doing so, which might have made things okay).

Owen makes a big move of his own by walking away from the family-owned, Marcus-run dealership for a nearby Chevy rival, but it's less clear whether he's in denial like the other two or making the smart, independent choice. This will hurt his already lousy relationship with Owen Sr. (unless Sr's impressed to see Jr. finally setting out on his own), and there's no telling whether he'll do okay at another dealership. Was his dad covering for his shortcomings all these years, or holding Owen back?

Regardless of what happens in the finale, this was another extremely strong showcase for all three leading men, particularly in their moments of realization: Ray Romano as Joe flipped out in his hotel room over what he'd done, Andre Braugher as Owen went from being happy his dad was stepping down to crushed that Marcus would be running things, Scott Bakula as Terry sat through the mortifying (but ultimately rewarding) after-party chit-chat with Bobby and Rusty.

Tim Goodman wrote a column today calling this "The most surprising series on television right now." I don't know that I've been quite that surprised by it, as I knew going in that Braugher and Bakula were tremendous, and that Romano had showed much stronger dramatic chops than most people had noticed on "Everybody Loves Raymond." But if I'm not surprised by how good the show has been, I am a little by how attached I've grown to Joe and Owen and Terry over these past nine episodes, and by how reluctant I am to pop in my screener of the season finale, knowing that it'll be the last hour I get to spend with the guys for a while.

Early on in the development of this show, word on the street was that it was going to be a male, slightly older "Sex and the City." And though the guys get together for breakfast all the time - and even spent the opener of this one gauging the frequency of their respective sex lives - it's gone a whole lot deeper than that. It's funny, but the comedy often comes from a place of melancholy or despair, like the car salesmen all striking out with the kid with the phone until Owen Sr. pushed himself too far, or Joe celebrating his victory while the Gamblers Anonymous people all stare at his car.

Really good show. Looking forward to the finale.

What did everybody else think?

There is a new blog logo. Discuss.

The blog logo usually features four individual people from four shows, but this time I went with four pairs. What's the common thread between them? And why does it tie in to some recent blog business?

As a reminder, this post contains links to, and explanations for, all the previous logos.

How to Make It in America, "Pilot": Bolt from the blue

I already reviewed "How to Make It in America" in Friday's column, and while I found the show engaging, I don't know that there's enough there to merit the episode-by-episode blog treatment. (Though even if I tire of the show overall, I may keep tuning in just for that great opening title sequence, scored to Aloe Blacc's "I Need a Dollar." It's one of the best HBO's given us in a while. It's worth putting on the YouTube version of the complete pilot just for the credits.)

But what did you guys think?

Big Love, "Sins of the Father" & "Under One Roof": Busy busy busy

The Super Bowl and then the busy week of programming that followed it kept me from watching last week's "Big Love" until this weekend, when I watched it as a screener double feature with tonight's episode. Gotta say that the show at the moment is feeling way, way too busy for me, with Bill's idiotic political campaign on top of the casino problems, whatever JJ's up to, Alby, and tonight's return of several old characters.

But since these posts are mainly an excuse for you folks to discuss your thoughts on each episode, I'll let you have at it in the comments.