Thumbing through the Midland Reporter-Telegram's TV-Times for this week a few things of interest jump out. First up, today (Sunday) at 4:30 pm CDT on USA Network and again Monday at 1:30 pm is "Training Day" which is worth seeing if for no other reason than to see Denzel Washington portray the boss-from-Hell to beat all bosses-from-Hell.
Then at 7:00 pm tonight there's a new episode of "The Simpsons" on Fox in which Principal Skinner seeks Homer's help in winning back his fiance. Well, Homer is no Dear Abby, but I suspect his advice will be infinitely more entertaining.
Then at 8:00 tonight on PBS there's Masterpiece Theatre with part one of a two part feature of "Prime Suspect" with the always good Helen Mirren. Here's TV Times' sum-up: "Jane Tennison investigates the torture and murder of a Muslim Bosnian woman."
And also at 8:00 pm tonight is the next episode of "The Sopranos" on HBO. I no longer get HBO or any of the premium channels that require a cable box, and when I did, "The Sopranos" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" were the only two programs I watched. But, the inconvenience of the cable converter box outweighed that enjoyment. Perhaps the new digital boxes are more convenient, I wouldn't know.
Skipping ahead to Thursday, "Tru Calling" is on at 7:00 pm on Fox. This is currently my favorite regular tv show. Tru works in a morgue, and the corpses come back to life just long enough to ask her for help. Her day rewinds, and she gets the opportunity to try to save their lives. I'm a sucker for these time travel type shows - don't ask me why, ask Dr. Freud, Phil, Brothers, I just don't know. Anyway, here's what TV Times says: "When Tru probes a male corpse with the same name as her female neighbor, she has trouble figuring out who is a victim and who is a criminal." Probes a male corpse? Sounds naughty, but I'm sure it isn't.
Also on Thursday Frontline on PBS is scheduled for 8:00 pm. Here's the write up:
The life of Abdurahman Khadr, who was raised to be an al-Qaida terrorist, but found himself working for the Central Intelligence Agency.
Is Frontline outing a CIA operative? If so, isn't that a crime? Some commentators said it was when Robert Novak outed Valarie Plame. But, somehow the media get let off the hook in these things.
And, finally we reach Saturday night. At 7:00 pm on ABC there's "Almost Famous", a delightful movie about a 15 year old boy who lands a gig writing about a band for Rolling Stone magazine. But, the kid himself is overshadowed by the women in the movie, particularly Kate Hudson as a cute, charming and very convincing band groupie with tons of street smarts and a soft heart, and Margaret McDormand who plays the kid's mom.
I'm not sure how well "Almost Famous" holds up for a second viewing, but "Dr. Strangelove", at 7:00 pm on TCM, holds up famously for a third or fourth viewing. What a wonderful satire. And what a cast of characters! There's George C. Scott as General Buck Turgidson explaining that, well, yes, it was a mistake to develop a system which allowed one insane Air Force general to start a nuclear holocaust, but the whole program shouldn't be condemned just because of one mistake. A great movie!
By the way, all times are Central Daylight Time.
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