Here’s a look back at the best and worst of TV in the past week (June 11-17), and a peek at what’s coming up next week.
Highlights
1. “Breaking Bad” (AMC). I dropped the ball by promising a post on the season finale and not delivering. Sorry, I’ll go sit in the box and feel shame. But it was a pretty great finale. Not as shocking as the previous week’s episode, but more game-changing. Staying with the AMC theme, Walt and Jesse crossed their own Rubicon; they’re bad, and there’s no going back. Jesse’s crossing the line was especially heartbreaking, considering what Walt did to protect him the week before. (And for those who think the ending was a “Sopranos”-style fakeout, creator Vince Gilligan said there’s no doubt: Jesse did it.)
2. “Rubicon” (AMC). The preview for the smart, thoughtful conspiracy thriller was intriguing. Gives me something to look forward to when it debuts in August. It’ll be available online at AMC.com and Hulu.com, and it’s worth a look.
3. “30 for 30” (ESPN). I thought “June 17, 1994” was uneven, and tried a bit too hard at times to juxtapose the OJ Simpson frenzy with the NY Rangers’ victory parade and Arnold Palmer’s final U.S. Open, but overall the positives outweighed the negatives. The calls between the police hostage negotiator and OJ were gripping, and I’m stunned I hadn’t heard them before. It was jarring to see the entire slow-speed chase play out again and the reaction from the public and the media. I’d almost forgotten how much of a circus it was. A brief moment of hilarity came when an L.A. station cut into the NBA Finals for breaking news: One of their reporters on the scene was reporting he had borrowed someone’s cell phone to replace the one he lost. The disappointment and disgust on the anchor’s face was priceless. Yeah, disappointment and disgust pretty much sums up that day.
Honorable mention: “Warren the Ape” (MTV). Yeah, it was totally stupid and crude, but it made me laugh. There’s something about profane, alcoholic, sex-addicted puppets that’s just inherently funny.
Lowlights
1. “Food Buddha” (TLC). This totally disposable episode had Chicago chef Rodelio Aglibot teaming up with “Top Chef” alum/tool Ryan Scott to tour three San Francisco restaurants, where they ordered everything off the menu. That seemed to be their only gimmick. By ordering so much food, we didn’t get to learn much about any one dish, or the restaurants, or the chefs. And Ryan wussed out at eating tripe. Too bad they didn’t go to Incanto. Or pull off a show that was actually enlightening.
2. World Cup (ESPN). Good lord, the vuvuzelas are annoying. But even worse has been the lack of offense; scoring is down about one-and-a-half goals a game since the 2006 Cup. I just can’t justify waking up my lazy butt to watch a 7 a.m. game that’s going to end in a nil-nil draw. I’m hoping the offenses come alive as the first round progresses.
UPDATE: So I post this and then the U.S. and Slovenia go and play the most entertaining game of the tournament. Now that’s what I’d like to see more of. Only with fewer horrible calls by the ref.
3. “Top Chef” (Bravo). It wasn’t particularly bad, but the Season 7 premiere lacked the excitement and charisma of previous seasons. “Top Chef” may have become a victim of its own success and watered down its brand. Still, there seems to be a handful of top-notch chefs in this group. It’ll just take a few weeks for the chaff to get cut down to get to them.
Looking forward to . . .
1. “30 for 30: The Two Escobars” (6 p.m. Tuesday, ESPN). A two-hour look at the ties between the 1994 Colombian World Cup soccer team and drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. Looks gooooooood.
2. “Futurama” (10 and 10:30 p.m. Thursday, Comedy Central). It’s back from the dead with new episodes. Woo hoo! Just in time, I think I’ve seen every original episode at least two or three times. Click here to check out a recap of five seasons in seven minutes, and a preview of the new episode.
3. Vacation. Oh wait, this should be No. 1. See ya in a week.
