Fox's Tuesday Night LIneup

Finally got to see the Season Premiere of House last night (actually early this morning, but who's counting?) I wondered how they were going to handle the inevitable relapse of his injury. I thought they rushed it just a tad (could have waited an episode or two), but seeing how FOX is taking all of their shows off the air for an extended period of time (the Major League Baseball playoffs), maybe the producers felt they needed to get in as quickly as possible.

I did like the drug addict angle, and the idea that HOUSE has to have the "highs," whether it's the drugs or the crazy-ass experiments on patients.

Finally, what's up with Cameron's hair? My sister Jerrica and I both HATED IT. We hated it like Ajax hates Yoda: purely and with vigor.

(The hair above I would sleep with. The new hair? I can't even post a picture, but if you must see it, go to: http://www.fox.com/house/)

On to Standoff.

Kaida told me the show lacked pop, but I rather think she watched it with the sound down. In the first five minutes Hostage Negotiator Matt

(played by Ron Livingston of OFFICE SPACE, or, if you're not that cool, Carrie's boyfriend on Sex in the City) tells the hostage (and the rest of the Hostage Rescue team), that he's sleeping with his Negotiator Partner Emily, played by Rosemarie DeWitt. (DeWitt looks and acts so much like a younger Dana Delany I have to ask: why not just cast Dana Delany? Oh yeah: the age difference. It must just suck to be a woman in Hollywood.)

(Add ten years, a breast job, and this is your life Rosemarie!)

Anyway, this little "slip" puts Matt and Emily in huge trouble with their boss and coworkers, and might (just might) compromise their working relationship. (Uh...ya think?) It seems like if you ever wanted two people to be dispassionate, it'd be Hostage Negotiators!

I found the quasi-Moonlighting tone to be a bit weird, and setting up the friction (the Hostage Negotiators always want to talk, the tactical team always wants to force a confrontation) to be fake.

However, that's how Procedural shows work. You establish stereotypes of the job, and hopefully move past that if the show can develop.

Anyway, Once Tuesday night gets rolling Standoff may get the axe, but for now it's a decent follow up to my favorite show on TV.