Screener Reviews... Forthcoming!

They are. I swear. Just not today or this weekend (it's LGBT Pride in LA, after all).

Anyway, screeners are still pouring in / making their way to me. I don't have everything (yet).

A brief note... NO ONE has Flash Forward. No one. I have friends on the show, and they don't even have it (in fact, there is some super crazy protocol for the scripts to ensure that there aren't even any electronic copies being distributed).

Of course, my theory is, and always will be, that the real reason to watch these screeners is to watch the BUSTED pilots (the ones that don't get picked up) to see why... not to watch something months in advance of its premiere. Though in special cases (i.e. Glee) it's nice to know what I'm going to be obsessed with well in advance.

Please, please, please don't e-mail me to get copies of these. I simply can't do that. It would be a total breach of trust.

Nose Dive

Royal Pains, consider yourself one "one episode left" notice. I was VASTLY underwhelmed by tonight's follow-up to the pilot. Mostly because you retained about 300% of the quirk of the pilot but 25% of the drama.

Now, I know. You aren't a murder mystery show. But both Monk and Psych manage to fit quirk within a murder mystery every week and keep things moving along in an amusing way (diminishing returns on Monk, IMHO, but that's why I stopped watching it). Medical shows can be funny and quirky and still solve medical mysteries. In fact, that show is House. You, Royal Pains, are not House. You aren't trying to be House. I get it.

But, please, could you try a little harder to HOLD MY ATTENTION!?

Show of hands... who knew what was wrong with the ballerina 3 minutes after the second act started (since we didn't see the ballerina until the end of the first act, and even then it was COMPLETELY SEPARATE FROM THE PLOT LINE WE WERE IN).

Also, could they be moving any faster on the Hank/Jill romance? It's episode two and they already have reached smoochus interruptus.

Sigh.

Anyway. I'm hoping this is a fluke of bad storytelling and not a hint at the formula to come from Royal Pains. Because if it is representative of what's ahead... well, I won't be watching after next week. And I really want to be watching after next week because I need more scripted TV in my summer life.

SYTYCD note - results show more engaging than Idol's (woo! no Ford commercials!), the "dance for your life" bit is interesting, Sean Kingston is not even a mediocre live performer, and the right guy and girl went home tonight.

PS - I'm Not Dead

Just very, very bored by the summer ratings. I'm not getting regular / complete cable numbers, so reporting on anything is spotty (and big stuff like the Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Weeds, Nurse Jackie, The Closer, and Raising the Bar premiere data is actually being written up in the trades).

Will get to screener reviews as I can, but have been embroiled in some writing projects that have definitely occupied my time and / or brain.

What can I say? Summer sucks.

On recommendation, I have been watching So You Think You Can Dance for the first time this summer... what a treat last night's performance show was! The audition and Vegas rounds... not so much. Judging the performances from home is very, very different for SYTYCD than it is for Idol. On Idol, you know when there's a missed note or pitchiness or whatever. On SYTYCD all of the dancers are amazing, but the line separating them on any given week or performances seems to be the choreography they're given within the genre they receive, and the amount of personality brought to the performance. It's not like any of the Top 20 wiped out last night (do they ever? Again, this was my first performance show viewing).

Some brief notes on the cable premieres of the last week...

Burn Notice - still a ton of fun, glad to see that even though they sort of seemed to explode the premise for the show at last season's end, the episodes are still very much in the same vein... but with even more sense of danger because Michael is now on the grid. Glad to see USA pushing Donovan and Anwar for Lead Male and Supporting Female Emmys in the trade FYCs.

Royal Pains - the opening 15-ish minutes were a pain and a bit of a buy (what with the hospital board black listing the lead character everywhere in NYC...), and I found the lead character to be very annoying with his repeated protest that he wasn't going to be the concierge doctor in the Hamptons... it's the premise for the show, so it didn't hold any water after his first complaint. Looking forward to the first post-pilot episode tonight, which won't have to deal with setting the premiere up, and hopefully won't have Dr. Hank quite so recalcitrant.

Weeds - I'm not sure why I'm still watching this show. It wasn't funny last season and it isn't funny now. I don't even like any of the characters anymore (even Shane).

Nurse Jackie - the press has gone gaga over this show, and it's good to see Falco in such an interesting (and different) role. looking forward to what episode two has in store.

The Closer - same old summer popcorn background noise. Was kind of surprised at the lack of a post-Brenda's-wedding plotline or even a mention. Much like Burn Notice... business as usual.

Top Chef Masters - fun if different from the Mothership. I didn't warm to Kelly Choi, and definitely miss Padma and Tom. However, if the Mothership wants to bring Gael Greene on as a guest judge at any point in the coming season, I'm all for it.