SFist Watches: TV This Week
We don't know what to do with ourselves. The TV season has come to an end, the finales are all over, and TV is beginning to look like a vast wasteland of reality shows. (Seriously, people. "Dancing with the Stars"?!) We're not sure what to do with ourselves. Go OUTSIDE? But doesn't that give you cancer? We could read, but if we're going to be sitting at home anyway, why not just turn on the television? There must be SOMETHING on.
And you know what? There is!
Of local interest, kind of, is the premiere of the animated series "The Life & Times of Juniper Lee." You see, this animated series on the Cartoon Network was created by Judd Winick, who some of you might remember from his stint on "The Real World: San Francisco." He was the one who really hated Puck (OK...they all did) and eventually went on to marry roommate Pam. (After acting all nice to her boyfriend while on the show! Tres scandale!) Winick's done pretty well for himself career-wise since then (and has stayed away from all the "Road Rules/Real World" challenges, for which we commend him), publishing some graphic novels and syndicating a comic strip. And now he's venturing into the animated world with this series about an Asian-American girl who must protect humananity from the magical world that surrounds us. Check the site for air times--and we're glad to report that they've finally assigned a copy editor to the thing, as the site had been a grammatical mess for days. (Hey, shut up! We're talking about their site!)
Image of the "Real World: San Francisco" house burned up real good, from this site.
Some might remember seeing some cryptic graffiti on the sidewalks last summer. And some might remember that said graffiti was really a guerilla marketing effort for a TV series on the USA Network. And some might also remember that the graffiti didn't wash off very easily, and said network had to pay some steep fines as a result. But most probably don't remember that the show in question was "The 4400," and because the streets are free of stenciled ads this year, you might not know that the second season is starting this Sunday at 9 p.m. on USA. The show, about 4400 people abducted by something mysterious, and then returned years later, un-aged, but not unchanged, was a pretty good "X-Files"-ish drama. Lots of weird happenings, as well as a spooky kid, and a touching storyline about an interracial romance. For those who missed it, you can catch a rerun of the first season starting Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. (The series was only about eight episodes long, so if you'd like to avoid any real daylight on Sunday, here's your time killer!)
We'd also like to point out one reality series that has caught our interest, and that's "Hit Me Baby One More Time." This isn't to be confused with Britney's TV show, but is instead a kind of "American Idol" for washed up pop stars. Each week, bands like Flock of Seagulls(!), The Knack(!!), Loverboy(!!!) and Wang Chung (::head explodes::) perform, and the audience votes on who they think deserves another shot at stardom. It would be sad if it weren't so friggin' awesome! It premieres Thursday at 9 p.m. on NBC.
And for the HBO subscribers in the audience (or those who get their shows via nefarious means) the final season of "Six Feet Under" begins on Monday, June 6th. We'll reserve real comment for, well, the comments, should anyone want to discuss the show's development. But we will leave with this: will those people ever, EVER, learn from their past mistakes??