“Show Me the Money”
Tuesday 9:30pm, ABC
Entertainment, thy name is…Shatner! The shameless, Emmy-winning performer shows Howie Mandel and Bob freaking Saget how a real man hosts a game show. Why waste busty models by having them simply hold briefcases? When it comes to the Shat, these girls shake it. In fact, the Million Dollar Dancers break into various dance styles as Shatner pelts his contestants with trivia questions. There is guessing of hidden scrolls, weird temptation offers…frankly, it gets complicated. But the whole thing sounds very Brazilian, and as anyone who’s spent a Saturday afternoon watching the insanity on Telemundo can tell you, es muy bueno. Wish they hadn’t pick a 10-year-old catchphrase for the title, though. What’s next, “Where’s the Beef?” hosted by Ed Begley Jr.? (No Sumner Redstone, no—that was a joke!)
“Medium”
Wednesday 9pm, NBC
I hope Patricia Arquette’s psychic detective saw this one coming. NBC initially intended to start airing the third season of the surprisingly popular drama in January, but after freshman show Kidnapped got quickly sacked (poor Dana Delaney; seriously, can this woman catch a break?) the Peacock decided to promote the precog. Tonight’s two-hour premiere features Arquette’s super-studly real-life hubby Thomas Jane (The Punisher, The Sweetest Thing) as one of her character’s ex-boyfriends. As much as I kind of despise the Arquette family, I’ve got to give Patty here some props. She keeps a fairly uneven show afloat, and her character is likable, flawed, and, perhaps best of all, not overly tic-prone like most
TV mediums.
“Daybreak”
Wednesday 9pm, ABC
In another entry in the “When Bad Shows Happen to Good Actors” sweepstakes, Taye Diggs (Chicago, Rent, How Stella Got Her Groove Back) plays a cop framed for a crime he didn’t commit who is forced to relive the same horrible day over and over again until he gets it right. That’s right, just like Groundhog Day. But with more guns and violence and death. Ugh. What really sucks is that Diggs is actually a pretty good actor, and a total fox to boot. This’ll mark his second failed drama in two years, after “Kevin Hill” tanked on UPN. And I say “failed” so certainly not just because of the ridiculous, derivative premise, but also because ABC plopped it in the “Lost” timeslot while that show is on its (ridiculous) 16-week winter hiatus. I just don’t see any of “Lost”’s rabid conspiracy theorists digging this at all.