The Week That Was.....A Viewer's Diary: 7/10-7/16

The week in television, cable networks have really stepped it up over the past few years to start giving us some very good first run shows during the summer months. Many times competing successfully with the endless stream of new reality shows. This week the Sci-Fi Channel started it's summer seasons with a trio of shows on Friday.

Sunday 7/10.

• Family Guy. Peter learns the wonders of a tab at the Pharmacy, but doesn't quite understand what it entails. He ends up bartering Meg in exchange for what he owes. Not the best episode, but still funny. **.5
• The 4400. Interesting twists abound. The homeless show up to be healed. Isabel may be causing some health problems. Collier is dead, or is he? A shooter suffering blackouts. I like the way this show is going. ***.5
• The Dead Zone. Twisty, turny episode. Has Johnny investigating a potential murder of a reclusive artists daughter. The problem is identities keep shifting, along with the motive. Very good. ***

Monday 7/11.

• WWE: Raw. There are two notables here. First, while Carlito and Jericho argue over whose interview segment is better, Rowdy Roddy Piper shows up and proceeds to put them in their place, great moment. At the end of the show Piper interviewed HBK about his turn on Hogan last week, Piper ended up in the same position. More notably, Edge and Lita were in the back, and get jumped by someone looking like Matt Hardy! Then in the ring, Hardy jumped the rail and started pounding on Edge, he then got a mic and referred to Edge by his real name (Adam) and then bad mouthed the WWE and plugged his upcoming Ring of Honor appearance. It was so bizarre, and the last thing anyone expected. Was it a work? Was it a shoot? Some combination of the two? Either way, I loved it! ****
• The Closer. Brenda is looking into the murder of a doctor who was working on drug for drug addicts. This was good, I really am enjoying her character, something different from the norm on these procedural shows. This episode brings up a past internal affairs investigation. ***.5

Tuesday 7/12.

• Reno 911. This is such a wacky show, it has to be seen to be believed. This week focuses on the pursuit of a notorious speeder. ***
• Stella. Now this is weird in a surreal way. Three guys in suits, with no jobs, crash an office party. They pretend to be employees, their only disguise being fake mustaches. ***
• Rescue Me. Man I love this series. Tommy's visions of Jesus continue, this time Mary joins in. He is also back in his old house and making headlines rescuing a young girl. Jerry gets reprimanded for his derogatory comment towards Laura, while Tommy explains camaraderie. ****

Wednesday 7/13.

• The Inside. The team struggles to stay together as they investigate a new serial killer, while being questioned about Web. Good episode, this series has been better than the average procedural show. ***.5
• 30 Days. Interesting mini documentary about two people who go off the grid. They forsake all of the usual amenities in order to learn about the effects of their consumption. I have no interest in living like that, but it is interesting some of the alternatives they take.

Thursday 7/14.

• WWE: Smackdown. Nothing terribly exciting. Lots of Eddie Guerrero talking about his big secret and desire to take out Rey. The Mexicools have their first match, and win it, Juvy hit Paul London with a 450 splash. MNM attacks Heidenreich, who gets saved by Road Warrior Animal! That set up a tag title match at the GAB. Nothing else of note, although Christian had a quick win over Booker T. **.5

Friday 7/15.

• Stargate: SG-1. The new season seems to be acting as a way to rejuvenate this long running season (this is it's 9th). It introduces a new team leader, played by Farscape's Ben Browder, and, I am not sure if this a new team member or just a recurring character, also on the show is the returning Claudia Black as Vala. This episode centered on Browder's attempt to put a new SG-1 team together. It then turns into a search for an Ancient's treasure, this brings in Jackson and T'ealc. Promising start. ***.5
• Stargate: Atlantis. Technology can be rough, my cable box cut out and I did not get this.
• Battlestar Galactica. See above.

Saturday 7/16.

• The Batman. I had actually seen this episode before. It is the introduction of Bane. I am not sure I like him visually here, but he is treated much better than in that abysmal feature film. It does show that the Bat can be beaten, and his resourcefulness. **.5
• Justice League: Unlimited. Wow! This was an excellent episode. The season long buildup has been great. The fights, the characters, I loved watching Flash take on Lex/Brainiac, picking up steam running around the world. I loved Green Arrow's speech about the need for the League. I wish they would put these out in season sets! ****

End. Transmission.

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