Live from the Emmys

6:05p.m. - We’re starting a little late because the Cowboys-Dolphins game is running late, which allows me more time to cheer on the Cowboys.

6:21- Cowboys win 37-20! Now the Emmy pre-show is loaded up and ready to go. My commentary will be rather limited until the show starts, but we’ll get some comments in here and there.

6:25- We’re joining the Emmy pre-show already in progress. Hugh Laurie is interviewed, and once again shows that he is a rather funny man. He claims the speech tonight will be from “Henry V,” so hopefully we won’t have a repeat of last year’s speech when he randomly picked names out of his pocket to thank.

6:30- Back from commercial and they’re talking to Edie Falco. “The Sopranos” may or may not sweep the awards tonight, depending on whether or not the Emmys will recognize a show simply because it finished its run.

6:32 - Eva Longoria makes a comment about the heat, and the surprising detail comes out that Eva is one of the few from “Desperate Housewives” not nominated. No more Tony Parker details - please - I’m a Mavericks fan!

6:35 - Jon Stewart is a funnier guy than Tony Bennett. I’ll just state that now before their category is presented.

6:37 - Helen Mirren spends too much time talking in the interview. Every actor seems to take great pleasure in stating “we’ll be right back” at the end.

6:40 - Back from commercial, and the hosts are talking to Rachel Griffiths from “Brothers and Sisters.” I could get more excited if I knew who she was.

6:41 - They take it inside to Judith Light, and the conversation appears scripted. Then again, that’s really how we know it’s an awards show.

6:48 - Katherine Heigl gives what is possibly the greatest interview of the night, as she seems relaxed and casual.

6:55 - I don’t know fashion, so I’m not even going to go there!

7:00 - The introduction is made by “Family Guy.” Apparently it was too much to ask for a new song, since they simply rewrote the popular FCC song.

7:04 - Ryan Seacrest comes out, reminding us that we are in fact on Fox (if the intro wasn’t any indication). He walks into the audience says a few words, and then hangs out with William Shatner. I don’t really care about what designer celebrities are wearing, so that joke pretty much fails with me.

7:07 - Thankfully Ray Romano comes out to prevent Seacrest from telling any more jokes. There’s a nice jab at Flava Flav in there, but the rest of the jokes are relatively tame, at least until he suggests a new TV relationship with Patricia Heaton and Kelsey Grammar or their new show “Back to You.”

This sets off the censors mark and gives us a black screen. After a while he pulls out the nominees for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy. Jeremy Piven wins for “Entourage” over Neil Patrick Harris, Rainn Wilson, Jon Cryer, and fellow castmate Kevin Dillon.

7:13 - America Ferrera (I’ll save the name jokes) and Vanessa Williams from “Ugly Betty” come out to present Best Supporting Actor in a Drama. Terry O’Quinn, Locke from “Lost,” walks away with the award. I find myself hiding my eyes from his tie and hot pink shirt. The music plays, telling him time is up!

7:20 - We return to Ryan Seacreast, who attempts to make some more jokes including a stab at Paula Abdul. Tina Fey and Julia Louis-Dreyfus present Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy. Jamie Pressly deservedly wins, and she beats the likes of Jenna Fischer from “The Office” and Vanessa Williams from “Ugly Betty.”

7:26 - Katherine Heigl has her name mispronounced, but she goes ahead and presents Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries. Thomas Haden Church wins for “Broken Trail.” He feels the need to inform us that he’s uncomfortable, and he dedicates the award to AMC and his crew.

7:32 - Ellen DeGeneres leads us back into the broadcast, and pretends to forget what award she’s announcing. Then comes a list of one-liners from popular variety shows.

7:36 - The Emmys are apparently trying to be creative by pairing Eva Longoria with the cast of “Entourage,” and it becomes increasingly obvious from words on the teleprompter. Katherine Heigl walks away with the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (and I couldn’t be happier for having two minutes more to look at her).

7:40 - Jennifer Love-Hewitt and Jon Cryer show up, and Cryer actually delivers some great humor. The introductions to the nominees are all hilarious. Late Night with Conan O’Brien show gets the Emmy for Best Writing for a variety, music or comedy program. He beats the likes of, Letterman, Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, and Stephen Colbert. Strangely one of Conan’s fellow writers accepts the award and not the host himself.

7:49 - Ryan Seacrest comes back out, makes another non-humorous joke, and then introduces Christina Aguliera and Tony Bennett. An obviously pregnant Christina proves she can still belt out those high notes, and the performance is a definite set up for Tony Bennett’s Emmy.
7:51 - Alec Baldwin presents directing in a variety show, and Rob Marshall wins for directing Tony Bennett. Here’s a question for you; will a classic singer host a show every year and thus beat out all of the other regular variety show hosts (Letterman, Stewart Colbert)? Stay tuned for the answer, when the winner for Best Host is revealed.

7:55 - Robert Duvall wins for Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie. “Broken Trail” looks to be on the road for great success.

7:58 - Another very poor-off color remark is made by Ryan Seacrest, and they go to commercial.

8:02 - Queen Latifah presents a tribute to “Roots.” She gives some interesting facts, such as how its last episode was the 3rd-most watched television show in history. Usually I’m not a fan of video tributes, but her presentation was smart and honorable.

The cast of “Roots” comes out on stage to a mass applause. Then they present the Emmy for Best Miniseries or Movie. Why can’t we just honor them and have someone else present?

8:05 - “Broken Trail” walks away with yet another Emmy, and Robert Duvall gets another chance to speak. Robert Duvall seems to be running out of things to say.

8:09 - The awards for guest acting are presented (again), as the winners were revealed during the Creative Arts Emmys. The winners were John Goodman and Leslie Caron in the drama category.

8:11- Leslie Caron stays on to present the award for Best Direction in a Drama. “The Sopranos” finally garners its first Emmy for the night.

8:14 - Neil Patrick Harris and Hayden Pattatiere present the award for Writing in a Drama, and yet again “The Sopranos” walk away with the trophy.

8:21 - Steve Carell comes out and gives the most tongue-in-cheek performance of the night thus far, allowing his fellow “Office” cast members to roast him. Carell introduces “Best Variety Series,” and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” takes it. Jon Stewart takes advantage of a recurring theme in making fun of the Emmys’ new circular stage, only giving a certain part of the audience a view.

8:24 - Carell continues to present for “Best Variety Special” (and to no one’s surprise Tony Bennett finds himself walking up to the stage). Now I’m not familiar enough with Bennett to know for sure, but his wife looks about half his age.

8:28 - Mark Harmon and Marcia Cross come out to present Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie. Judy Davis wins for USA’s “The Starter Wife.” Judy also marks the first individual not present to receive their award.

8:30- The President of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He makes a speech about charity and giving, especially acknowledging the “Idol Gives Back” program and HBO’s “The Addiction Project” as examples TV is working for the greater good.

8:35 - Three fine actresses — Glenn Close, Kyra Sediwick, and Mary-Louise Parker come out to present the nominees for Outstanding Made-for-Television Movie. The winner most deservedly is “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,” finally this show gets some recognition.

8:39 - Now, we have a performance by the Jersey Boys as they salute “The Sopranos” in a truly bizarre fashion. It should win an Emmy for “Most Bizarre Tribute I’ve Ever Heard.”

8:45- The cast of “The Sopranos” now takes the opportunity to strut onto the stage (all 100 or so of them, with the principles coming out of a trap door in the floor). It doesn’t seem like much of a recognition affair; shouldn’t they be recongnized by giving them an Emmy?

8:48 - Sally Field and Patrick “McDreamy” Dempsey start the next segment, Best Actress in a Miniseries or Movie. Helen Mirren proves once again that the voters enjoy her. She wins for a “Masterpiece Theatre” special. Why does Helen Mirren star in “National Treasure” when she wins so many awards? The shows she wins awards for must not pay well enough.

8:51 - Lewis Black is on the loose, attacking networks’ in-show advertisements of other programs. Then he goes on another tirade towards news broadcasts and their tendency to spew out useless information.

8:54 - Now that Lewis Black’s segment is over, Kathryn Morris (deserving of an Emmy, if you read my last piece) comes out to present Outstanding Director for a Miniseries or Movie. Phillip Martin wins for “Prime Suspect,” the same special on “Masterpiece Theatre” that Helen Mirren received an Emmy for.

8:55 - That was short, and now they present the award for Best Writing in the same category. Unsurprisingly, “Prime Suspect” wins yet again, and most of the TV audience is immensely bored as they really don’t care about “Masterpiece Theatre” anymore.

9:01 - Seacrest tries to be funny again and introduces Masi Oka, who goes on to present Tom, the ever-so-famous founder of Myspace. He introduces Current, the TV Network made by the people. Naturally Al Gore receives the award, so Hollywood manages to find a way to neglect the average American to give the award to someone famous.

9:06 - Brad Garrett and Jolie Fisher come on stage, obviously on the broadcast because “’Til Death” airs on Fox. Brad takes a stab at Charlie Sheen. Now the moment of truth for the hosts in the Variety Show category. Tony Bennett wins, no one is surprised, and Emmy proves they are out of touch with America by shunning Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and David Letterman.

9:09 - Anthony Anderson comes out with Teri Hatcher, and he most likely feels like the luckiest man in the world. They present Best Guest Actor and Actress in a Comedy Series. Stanley Tucci and Elaine Stritch. These winners enter the circle stage, and Elaine Stritch is actually very confused. They finally get to the nominees for Directing in a Comedy Series. Richard Shepard wins for the pilot of “Ugly Betty,” and actually had a decent speech referencing his childhood.

9:15 - Anderson and Hatcher are back presenting the award for Writing in a Comedy Series. Greg Daniels wins for the “The Office,” and he goes on to recognize the team effort involved in making the show.

9:20 - In what is so far the funniest moment for Ryan Seacrest, he dresses up in a Shakespearean outfit and introduces Wayne Brady, host of “Don’t Forget the Lyrics,” another Fox show. He pulls out some “randomly-selected” names: Rainn Wilson and Kanye West (who I’m not sure really needs to be at the Emmys).

They perform a musical contest to “The Songs of Kanye West.” In a surprise move, Kanye loses by mispronouncing one of the words to his own lyric, and strangely Wilson is the winner. Kanye responds by saying “I never win anything.”

9:25 - Kanye and Rainn present Best Reality Competition, which “The Amazing Race” wins as it has every year since the category came into existence 6 years ago. It’s a great show, though it won’t sadly be back until January.

9:30 - Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart hit the stage, Colbert holding a leaf-blower. Colbert attacks Stewart over the environment. Colbert avoids a public meltdown over losing to Tony Bennett, but when the award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series goes to Ricky Gervais, since Gervais isn’t present Stewart claims they’re giving the award to Carell instead. For a brief second I actually think Carell really won it (too bad).

9:35 - I miss part of the introduction due to laughter at Carell, Stewart, and Colbert, but Sally Field wins an award for Best Actress in a Drama Series for “Brothers and Sisters.” She forgets what she is supposed to say, then closes with a comment about the war that is apparently blacked out.

9:40 - A tribute airs to fallen television personalities.

9:46 - William Shatner and Debra Messing enter the Emmy circle, and begin to joke about a failed musical number. They present the award for Best Actress in a Comedy, and America Ferrera wins for “Ugly Betty.” I personally don’t enjoy the show as much as others (“30 Rock”), but it’s a victory for America…wait, I said I wouldn’t do any of these jokes.

9:53 - The stars of “Cane” and “Private Practice” introduce the nominees for Lead Actor in a Drama. James Spader wins in an upset over Keifer Sutherland and Hugh Laurie. He actually proves himself to be funnier than some of the comedy nominees.

9:59 - More plugging for Fox as Kelsey Grammar and Patricia Heaton, stars of the new show “Back to You,” give the Best Comedy award to “30 Rock.” Tina Fey accepts and gives an enthusiastic speech.

10:06 - Now we have Helen Mirren to present the award for Best Drama. I expect “The Sopranos” to win, and it does. Once again we wait for everyone to make it on stage.

10:11 - Seacrest says goodbye to us for the evening, an entertaining (though at times) forgettable Emmy broadcast. Some of the awards were too predictable for my taste, and many of the hyped moments over the past few weeks (a possible performance by Justin Timberlake or an apology by Britney Spears) didn’t pan out. Considering it was up against Sunday Night Football the Emmys were probably destroyed in the ratings, but as always I found great humor in some of the moments. Now there is nothing left to do but wait until next year.

Forgotten by the Emmys

This Sunday (September 16) the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences will be handing out the 59th annual Primetime Emmy Awards. Now, I could do what most would expect and create a generic blog full of predictions for the award ceremony, but certainly once the broadcast airs Sunday this piece would no longer be relevant.

Therefore I’m going to do something a little different; I will be naming some people worthy and deserving of an Emmy (even if they’re not nominated for this year’s awards).

I’ve also tried to narrow the field down to actors who haven’t won for their current shows (that rules out most people on HBO) and shows yet to be recognized.

Here we go:

Lead Actors

Jason Lee, “My Name is Earl” (NBC) - Lee was lucky enough to receive a nominated back in 2006 for “Earl,” but the former skateboarder-turned-actor has yet to walk away with one (He’s extremely funny in portraying a man trying to correct the past mistakes of his life). As much as I love “The Office” as a comedy program, its success tends to make Emmy voters overlook “Earl” and “Scrubs,” (two other extremely funny shows on the Thursday night lineup).

Kathryn Morris, “Cold Case,” (CBS) - crime shows are often among the most overlooked programs, simply because they virtually involve the same thing every week. However, it does take a certain level of consistency to keep murder solving interesting year after year. And Morris has done that with “Cold Case,” a show that surpassed “CSI” in terms of quality this past season (at least to me).

James Roday, “Psych” (USA) - Roday suffers from a similar problem as Morris, possibly even worsened in that USA’s “Psych” is meant for a significantly younger audience than “Cold Case.” Roday is a mahttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifster of screwball physical comedy, and though his show isn’t as popular as some of the other names on the list, he certainly deserves a spot.

Taylor Kitsch, “Friday Night Lights” (NBC) - It is hard for me not to create a list without mentioning “Friday Night Lights;” one of the most touching new shows to debut within this past year. Kitsch, who plays Tim Riggins on the show, seems like a perfect representative.

Edward James Olmos or Mary McDonnell, “Battlestar Galactica” (Sci-Fi)- Somehow this show has managed to improve upon the original, but more than likely the genre keeps it from getting any recognition. Now’s the time to change that.

Supporting Actors

Angela Kinsey, “The Office” (NBC) - Kinsey won an Emmy for Outstanding Broadband Program with “The Accountants.” I don’t see how anyone can overlook her turn as Angela, the inhospitable member of the Dunder-Mifflin staff. The feisty relationship she and assistant manager Dwight Schrute keep hidden is hysterical.

Cobie Saunders, “How I Met Your Mother” (CBS) - Most of the talk with “How I Met Your Mother” revolves around Neil Patrick Harris’s role a the womanizer Barney. Saunders’ role as Robin is equally entertaining, especially as more details from her past (that she was a pop star in Canada and her first boyfriend loved the color pink) start to emerge.

Jason Gray-Stanford, “Monk” (USA) - If anyone on “Monk” is capable of stealing scenes outside of Tony Shallhoub, it’s Jason Gray-Stanford as clueless detective Randy Disher. His role has expanded over recent years to include more stories about his past, and justifiably so considering his talent.

Masi Oka, “Heroes” (NBC) - As Oka is nominated this year there’s a slight chance he might walk away with the award, and truly he deserves it for keeping NBC’s new flagship hit entertaining. He’s the only actor to inject any real humor into the otherwise serious show.

Evangeline Lilly, “Lost” (ABC) - As more and more people become more and more confused with what exactly is going on with “Lost.” It seems to be avoided by awards shows, especially in terms of individual performances. Lilly’s work as Kate in the past season has proved that she is (along with Matthew Fox) one of the show’s standouts.

John C. McGinley, “Scrubs” (NBC) - “Scrubs” is entering its last season, and I think it’s fair to say some of its actors never received much of a fair chance at the Emmys. More than anyone, McGinley deserves the opportunity to win. His portrayal of the sarcastic and destructive attendee, Dr. Perry Cox, keeps the show moving.

Shows

“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (FX) - There’s nothing more entertaining to me than a delightfully controversial comedy, and “Philadelphia” fits the mold. With a great cast (including Danny DeVito), it’s strange to me why “Nip/Tuck” and “The Shield” (while good shows) receive most of the publicity.

“Jericho” (CBS) – Its fans have saved this show from cancellation for a reason. “Jericho” is a deep and emotional serial drama about life after a supposed nuclear holocaust. Its combination of great acting and heart-pounding tension should make it a fixture on TV. That’s if anyone ever figures that out to watch it.

“House” (Fox) - Hugh Laurie wins awards all the time as the main character, but why can’t the show itself get any love? You could say the same thing here for USA’s “Monk” and TNT’s “The Closer.”

“Eureka” (Sci-Fi) - Living in a town of geniuses can’t be easy, but the people of Eureka make it addictively entertaining. “Galactica” would also be a fine choice here, but “Eureka” is arguably the most original science fiction program on TV today.

“Dexter” (Showtime) - The same could be said for “Dexter” that is said for “House;” Michael C. Hall receives all of the attention for his performance in the title role. The show is easily Showtime’s best show, a dark and thrilling look at murder.

“The Colbert Report” (Comedy Central) - The reason I even bother to include Steven Colbert’s daily half-hour of satire is that it and other deserving talk programs, such as “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Late Show with David Letterman,” will likely lose to “Tony Bennett: An American Classic.” While I understand Bennett’s place as a music icon, it’s really not fair for him to win an Emmy for a one-time, one-hour special. How can it even be in the same category of Colbert and Stewart’s show? They air 4 times a week.

Check back next week for a review of the Emmy broadcast, including thoughts on the winners.


Matt Carter

“Hairspray” proves musicals can still be fun

Directed by Adam Shankman
Grade: A


I admit that upon seeing early trailers of “Hairspray” I rode it off, referring to it as a “silly attempt to capitalize on the recent popularity of musicals.”

I thought anything involving John Travolta in drag had to be. Unfortunately, my initial perception was that the film would come across as over-wrought and irritating. I figured song and dance numbers didn’t harmonize well with morals.

It turns out I’ve never been so happy to be wrong. “Hairspray” surprised me, not only as a light-hearted musical, but as a great inspirational movie. The message of “standing up for what you believe in” is overkill in movies. Yet “Hairspray” manages to turn the idea on its end and make it new and refreshing.

Plus, the songs are pretty darn entertaining.

Tracy Turnblad (newcomer Nikki Blonsky), a teenager living in ‘60s-era Baltimore, strives to become a regular on the popular dance program, the Corny Collins Show. As she begins to meet and learn from African-American students along the way to achieving her dream, she begins to want something greater beyond dancing on TV.

She wants to help desegregate the town and allow both blacks and whites to dance together. The story is well-laced with extravagant music numbers, which are frequent but never enough to be overbearing or annoying.

The film has one of the largest collections of stars in recent memory, and each one of them performs brilliant.

Perhaps the best is John Travolta, who manages to take his role Edna Turnblad and transform it into an integral part of the story (a clever marketing gimmick to get people into theaters). Michele Pfeiffer does an extraordinary job playing the domineering witch, Velma Von Tussle. Christopher Walken brings some class to anything he is in, and Queen Latifah literally rocks the house with her voice.

Even some of the younger stars, like Amanda Bynes and Brittany Snow, seem very well-cast and perform with a greater amount of energy than you typically see in movies. The real star of the show still is Blonsky, as she plays Tracy with enough conviction to make her impossible not to love.


There’s little I can say about “Hairspray” without ruining any of its magic, so I will simply say audiences young and old will be absolutely delighted by the beautiful sets and well-choreographed dance numbers.

It seems Adam Shankman, known previously for directing crud such as “The Pacifier” and “Cheaper by the Dozen 2,” is truly in his element working with musicals, and it shows. “Chicago” and “Moulin Rouge” brought musicals back into the limelight, but “Hairspray” is the most cohesive and the most fun out of any of them. Musical fans take notice, for the best sing-along of the decade so far is here.

Superbad is... well supergood

Superbad
Directed by Greg Motolla
Grade: A-

The team of Seth Rogen and producer Judd Apatow may seriously be on to something. “Superbad” marks the third time the pair worked on a major motion picture, and it marks the third time the film is hilariously funny.

“Superbad” looks initially like the type of raunch comedy that gets by only with excessive nudity and fart jokes, but it ends up being one of the funniest comedies in recent years. Its only major competition is the Apatow-directed “Knocked Up.” And the huge debate will be between liking a comedy about stoners or about sex-hungry teenagers.

Michael Cera (TV’s “Arrested Development”) stars as Evan, a High School senior looking for one last party before leaving to Dartmouth. He turns to his best friend Seth (Jonah Hill, “Accepted”) for help, and the two of them concoct a crazy plan to have sex with the girls of their dreams before the end of the night.

The main catch is that they have to find a way to buy and deliver copious amounts of alcohol without being captured by the police. Evan’s friend Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) comes in and plays the great “role of the accomplice.” He plays the nerdy kid, who uses a fake ID and the nickname of “McLovin” to get the ladies and win the respect of the police.

The movie’s concept is utterly ridiculous, but not so much that the film ever gets out of hand. Rogen’s screenplay stays focused around the three guys, so much that it almost seems like the teens are living in some sort of dream with no parents and unlimited possibilities.

The lack of consequences for their actions is only a minor problem, as the film’s targeting adult audience will be spending too much time laughing to notice.

While Cera and Hill are both perfectly believable as Evan and Seth, it is Mintz-Plasse as Fogell/McLovin who really steals the show. His escapades with two local cops (played by Rogen and Bill Hader) are especially hilarious consider the whole time Evan and Seth are waiting for him to show up with alcohol.

The movie snowballs into a series of one disaster after another, and unlike many lesser comedies it never feels contrived or forced. The story runs a little long in the end and director Greg Motolla feels the need to establish some sort of concrete moral, but even this isn’t too much of a distraction from the overall high quality of the film.

“Superbad” proves that a High School film can succeed without being cliché or even realistic, just as long as you focus on telling an original story with some laughs. It may not be Shakespeare, but the work of Rogen and Apatow will keep audiences rolling in their seats and waiting for their next comedy to surface.

A tribute to USA

Before I begin, let me extend a warm welcome and a friendly handshake to everyone reading my new entertainment blog on Daily Data. My goal here is to start some conversation among students about an industry that is a fixture on college campuses everywhere.

Entertainment is always around; the mediums vary, but it all adds up to “that what entertains you.”

I’ll try to discuss some news coming out of television, music, and movie industries, along with some commentary.

Though I am sure over the course of many upcoming blogs my focus will largely be on criticism, I thought it would be nice not to scare away any potential readers and start off with some praise towards some of the best summer entertainment you can find on a television set.

It’s time to salute USA(the network, not the country) on a job well done producing quality summer entertainment.

When I was watching television as a kid USA meant little to me other than reruns of the game show Press Your Luck (no whammies!) and American Gladiators, which I’m still wondering why I enjoyed it in the first place. It turns out much of America felt the same way about the network, since throughout much of the 1990s it was mainly known for hosting tennis matches and The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

Nowadays I suppose that you could say the tables have turned. Today USA is the home of some of the most original and popular programming on cable television.

In 2002, the network started to gain popularity through its flagship show Monk (Fridays at 8 p.m.),” focusing on the casework of an obsessive-compulsive detective (Tony Shallhoub) in San Francisco. Until the The Closer (which I find to be rather mundane) hit the airwaves on TNT in 2005 Monk was the highest-rated primetime show on cable.

Monk is now in its sixth season and still maintains a large audience, due to some solid writing and performances by Shalhoub and Jason-Grey Stanford as the inept police Lieutenant Randy Disher. Though the primarily storyline (Monk attempting to solve the murder of his dead wife Trudy) may sound depressing at first; the show has enough humor mixed with heartfelt moments to keep it from becoming just enough detective show.

Monk has helped along other series still on the air, such as The Dead Zone (Sundays at 9 p.m.), based off the writings of Stephen King. In 2004 The 4400, a science fiction show about abductees returning to Earth with special abilities, was produced as a miniseries, but due to strong ratings it now serves as a lead-in to The Dead Zone.

Though people may compare it now to NBC’s Heroes; The 4400” moves at a much faster pace and contains almost as many surprise endings (though I admit it does lack the awesomeness of Masi Oka).

The past two years saw the creation of two new programs: Psych (Fridays at 9 p.m.), a detective show based on a slacker (James Roday) pretending to be a psychic for the Santa Barbara police. The other is Burn Notice (Thursdays at 9 p.m.), a high-rated action comedy focusing on a former spy (Jeffery Donavan actually guest-starred on a Monk episode in 2005) who attempts to restart his career in Miami. Both of these shows are geared towards a younger audience than Monk, and while not as heart-warming they provide plenty of fun and escapism.

So if these shows are all “summer TV shows,” why do I bother to mention them now?

The good news is that most USA Network shows are taking a brief hiatus for the airing of the U. S. Open and will be off the air until their return September 6. Monk and Psych will end an 8-episode run in September, but will return in January for some new episodes.

The amazing thing about USA is that all of their programming tends to be entertaining, even if many of the concepts (shows about cops, detectives, and spies) have been done many times before.

Summer isn’t always the best time for television—since after all, there is that thing known as “nature” outside waiting to be explored—but a few of USA’s shows manage to still provide a nice escape from some of the crappy reality competitions major networks throw during the summertime (I’ll have more on that in a future blog).

For now, check out some of the shows I’ve mentioned either on USA or iTunes. Not all of them may be your cup of tea, but you may find one or two of them becoming a fixture in your summer schedule.

by Matt Carter

Agree or disagree? Send me an email at mscarter@smu.edu and I’d love to talk you about USA or anything else in the entertainment industry.