Here’s a look back at the best and worst of TV in the past week (March 6-12), and a peek at what’s coming up.
Highlights
1. “Lost” (ABC). Maybe my favorite episode of the season. Until next week, at least. So here’s something I just remembered: Sun was seen making a deal with Widmore a while back. Could she have led him and his submarine to the island?
2. “Amazing Race” (CBS). Great episode, lots of turnover in the standings, and plenty to laugh about (and, in the case of Jeff & Jordan, at). The only minus: It was a nonelimination leg. Those are always kinda anticlimactic. I like the Speedbump rule for the last-place team though; it’s so much more fair and less icky than having to beg for money in some poor country.
3. “Chuck” (NBC). Ooooh, a game-changer episode, I like those. Chuck’s secret is getting harder and harder to hide; now Morgan knows everything, and Ellie is getting close. Sure there were holes in the plot big enough to drive a truck through, but it was lighthearted, action-packed fun.
Honorable mention: “30 Rock” (NBC). The whole plotline of NBC being bought by some piddly cable company from Philadelphia (of all places!) was hilarious. Nice cameo by Jack Welch (who wouldn’t let Jack Donaghy call himself “Jack”), and I loved Liz’s ringtone — who knew she was a fan of Peaches’ “F— the Pain Away”? Also, “The Office” was good and low-key, kinda like the show used to be a couple of seasons ago. Any episode with Jim and Dwight having office prank wars is a good episode in my book.
Lowlights
1. “White Collar” (USA). The season finale was totally disjointed and confusing. Did I miss an episode or something? Because I had no clue what “Mentor” was, even after Fowler explained it. And the explosion at the end . . . . what a waste of a plotline. I get that the writers wanted to pull off a shocker, with plot twist after plot twist, but they ended up with a convoluted mess. “Burn Notice” does a good job balancing serious and breezy storylines; “White Collar” is just too fluffy to pull it off.
2. Oscars (ABC). Looooooooong and boring. Good lord, the nominee introductions alone could have put you to sleep. (And you could have woken up three hours later and still caught the end.) The telecast ran way long — as usual — and it ended up being three hours of filler with all the major awards being crammed into the last half hour. And what was up with that awful breakdancing sequence and the Miley Cyrus performance? Just embarrassing.
3. “Parenthood” (NBC). OK, I admit it really doesn’t belong here. It’s an intelligent, quality show with a great cast. But it’s kinda depressing and I don’t feel like watching it anymore. There’s enough family drama in real life that I don’t need more from TV.
Looking forward to . . .
1. “The Pacific” (9 p.m. Sunday, HBO). It’s like getting on a roller coaster: I’m excited and looking forward to it, but at the same time my stomach’s a little tight with trepidation at the harrowing combat scenes that’ll probably put “Saving Private Ryan” to shame.
2. “Justified” (10 p.m., Tuesday, FX). A modern-day Western starring “Deadwood’s” Timothy Olyphant that’s based on a book by Elmore Leonard. What part of that can not be awesome?
3. NCAA Tournament (starts Thursday, CBS). You know it’s a big week for TV when the tourney is only No. 3. In my book, the first four days of the tournament (Thursday-Sunday) are the greatest in the sports year.
