I did it for Tuesday, now I'll do it for Thursday (and this time, I watched all the shows! :) ).
FRIENDS:
After "Wings" and "Newsradio" premiered with "flat" episodes, I was
worried the same might happen to "Friends". Luckily, while the comedy on
the premiere was a little flat, the plot wasn't, and there was one
surprise for me.
The big surprise was that Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), who is my
favorite character for... uh, other reasons, actually shinned tonight!
I've been told that Aniston was funny in other shows, but tonight we
actually got to see her at her best. After giving Aniston too little to do
with Rachel for season #1, it looks like Aniston will be able to do a lot
more with this character in season #2, especially in terms of comedy. I'm
ecstatic about this!
My favorite comedian, Matthew Perry, turned in a usual top notch
performance, even if the writing let him down a little. And Schwimmer, Cox
and LeBlanc did their usual good performances, though Schwimmer had the
unenviable task of being the "jerk" the whole night. Lisa Kudrow seemed a
little off, and I don't know if it was her, or the writing for her. I hope
this doesn't continue beyond the premiere.
And was I the only one that hated the intro by Kudrow?
Anyway, no serious signs of slippage for this phenom.
RATING: 7 (for Aniston though, a 9)THE SINGLE GUY:
Apparently, I'm in the minority here, but I liked this show. Granted,
the pilot was rough (OK, *very* rough). But I see lots of potential here.
Silverman's male best friend reminds me of the male best friend in last
year's "Pride & Joy" (I believe played by Jeremy Nivens(?)); it's a
character that could be good, if they tone it down. I also liked
Silverman's female best friend (played by Jessica Hecht of "Friends").
However, her husband was a terrible cliche and they'll have to do
something with this character to make him believable.
Unfortunately, the best part of the show by far was the performance
by guest actress Olivia D'Abo as the obnoixius Time Magazine writer. She
was priceless (I had no idea that D'Abo could be funny like this), and she
should be brought back.
This pilot was rough, and this show may need a couple of more
episodes to rough over the edges, but I'll give it a chance.
RATING: 5.5SEINFELD:
What can I say? This show just consistently delivers. Not much new
here, except for George's "engagement" and an appearance by Newman, but
everything worked.
If this is the first episode of the last season of "Seinfeld", it's a
great way to start!
RATING: 7.5CAROLINE IN THE CITY:
Most reviews had picked "The Singel Guy" as the better new show, and
most that I've seen didn't like "Caroline". I'd say my impression was the
opposite.
I'm a little biased because I like Lea Thompson, but the pilot, even
after perhaps too many script revisions, turned out to be pretty good. I
like Caroline, the assistant, and even the old boyfriend. What I didn't
like was Amy Pietz's character: stock sitcom character, nothing new here.
They'd better work on that character, or dump her.
Still, I was presently surprised, and the "Seinfeld"-"Caroline"
block is going to be hard (for me) to turn away from, even for "The
Monroes" or "New York News". A promising start.
RATING: 7ER:
The end of last season for me was summed up by a thread title in
alt.tv.er: "More drama, less trauma". For me, that was not necessarily a
good thing, because "ER"'s best episodes usually had to do with the
medical crisies, rather than the person crisies.
Luckily, the premiere was back more to the old "ER" form of nonstop
medical action, which I think is a good format to return to, at least for
a while.
We didn't see too much of a lot of the cast today, mostly Carter,
Green and Hathaway, but that didn't bother me as these are basically my
favorite characters. It was a solid episode on most points.
What didn't I like? Well, the new Chief Resident is just downright
annoying, and I hope she doesn't last more than 3 or 4 episodes (like Deb
of last season). And it's hard to take 90201's "Emily Valentine" in "ER"
as the new 3rd year, and even harder to take that Carter's going to fall
for her.
As for questions: Why is Morgenstern back from "Brigham and
Women's", and why was he in a foul mood? What happened to "Wild Willie"
(the character; I know Ironside is on "seaQuest now)? And how long did
Susan Lewis' sister disappear for anyway?
All in all, a solid, if not great episode of "ER".
RATING: 7Thursday night on NBC still seems to reign as king on TV... ;>