The cast of Fox's new Dollhouse.

Eliza Dushku
This was the easy one. She’s pretty recognizable. Dushku plays the main character, Echo, and has been in a number of Whedon shows in the past including Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the spinoff Angel.

Harry Lennix
This is Echo’s handler, Boyd Langdon. Basically Boyd Langdon is to Echo as Marcus Dixon is to Sydney Bristow. See how I did that? But looking into it, I recognize Lennix from his part in day six of 24 and as Commander Lock in The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions.

Reed Diamond
Meet Laurence Dominic, basically Boyd Langon’s boss — or direct superior at the very least (I’m doing this on one episode, deal with it). While I couldn’t recognize where I knew this guy from, looking at his IMDB page made it pretty clear: Diamond was the brother of the main character in the good but short-lived Journeyman.

There are a couple of other characters played by actors whose faces I recognized, but after looking through their resumes there’s nothing I can see as to why I should know them. I don’t know what that says about their careers, but as least I recognized them, I guess.

Either way, Dollhouse has the potential to be a pretty good show — depending on the stories and personalities they cook up for Dushku’s character. Then, of course, there’s the Fox factor. Fox tends to not allow shows like this the ability to survive by either canceling them outright or airing their episodes out of order so the show makes no sense and no one wants to watch it; see Dark Angel and Firefly. Hopefully Whedon get’s a few episodes to work the show out and let the stories unfold. Dollhouse airs Friday’s at 9pm on Fox.

Monday’s proved to be exactly what NBC has needed for a number of years. Their new shows Heroes and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip have both received a fair share of critical acclaim. Ok, I guess I’m being modest. Studio 60 has received a quite impressive list of critical acclaim and Heroes has become the most successful new show on television. Both live up to hype.

Heroes follows various “super heroes” from around the world who are all discovering their new abilities and are being drawn together to “Save the cheerleader. Save the world.” This show brings back the comic book fan from my childhood and draws me in with the excitement of a serial drama with a touch of comedy thanks to the Hero character. That’s his name, really.

Studio 60 has far surpassed any expectations I had at the beginning of the season and is quickly becoming the single best show on TV. It carries a sense of humor that is witty and brilliantly penned but at the same time elevates itself from most television dramas to a place that few shows have ever reached. It was a shame a few weeks back when rumors circulated the internet that Studio 60 was going to be canned by NBC for lackluster ratings. In fact, it’s almost impossible to fathom that each week CSI: Miami almost doubles the viewers of Studio 60. Though NBC, almost the next day, ordered a full season. It may have been pressure from the critics but I’d like to hope NBC has more faith in this show then that as Studio 60 could easily be on for a very long time.

I don’t actually watch any live television on Tuesday — well if I do it’s a rare occurrence. However I do utilize the trusty DVR and watch Tuesday programing at my connivence. At the beginning of the season there was a lot of stuff I was considering watching on Tuesday nights. Though here at the midway point only one show has survived and that is the trusty Veronica Mars.

After renting the first season of Veronica Mars over the summer I have been hooked. Season three brought Veronica and the gang into their college years and, as creator Rob Thomas puts it, a growing up of the show. This was done in part to revamp the show as well as pick up the ratings. Moving to the new CW network was a crap shoot for Veronica Mars. An initial order of only 13 episodes was given with the understanding that if the viewers didn’t turn out, the show would be pulled. I’m not sure if it was the writing or the lead-in from the Gilmore Girl’s audience but something worked and this Fall Veronica saw the highest ratings of it’s entire series run. An entire story arc was wrapped up in the 9 episode fall run that involved Veronica solving a campus rape case. At the very end of the episode a lead-in to the second half arc was presented with a dead university dean. The future is looking bright for Veronica and that’s a good thing because the show is just quirky enough to be enjoyable.

Everyone knows that Wednesday’s belong to LOST and, well they still do but with a slight hesitation. Don’t get me wrong I love the show but I guess my hopes for the special six episode Fall season were too high. I was hoping for some sort of complete story arc but instead received little substance until the final two episodes. Those two episodes however restored my faith in the show — or is it the island? — and will tide me over until the end of January when the show returns for it’s uninterrupted run.

We left our castaways with the life of Ben (who although appears to be in charge of The Others seemingly takes his orders from a guy named Jacob who has yet to be introduced) in the hands of Jack who has basically given up his life to save Kate and Swayer — oh and Eko died. That’s pretty much what took six hours of multimillion dollar programing gets you. Sure, other things happened like Desmond discovered some sort of weird ability he may or may not have had pre-hatch meltdown and Locke returned to his sweet take-no-crap prior self, but we’re more or less back where we started. January will be big though, hopefully.

Thursday is another day that NBC, at least as of last week, has finally done right. The “Must See” comedy block has returned with My Name is Earl, which I’ve lost complete interest in, followed by long standing favorites The Office and Scrubs — and new show 30 Rock is thrown in as well.

This season The Office saw Jim leave the branch to avoid Pam and through a branch closing and subsequent merger come back with a new girlfriend. The hilarity of the show this season has been wrapped around Michael dealing with his new employees. At one point the transfers were all standing on a table to emphasize that everyone is to be treated equally (right), he outed a homosexual employee and locked the entire staff in the conference room with the idea of showing them that their job is better then prison.

Scrubs has been back for only two episodes but is in it’s full form. I mean, how can a show not be funny when Dr. Cox throw’s an entire plate of spaghetti on a three year old’s head in order to show him what it feels like. There is some weird stuff going on with everyone having a kid except Elliot but it’s hard to find fault with anything Scrubs does — or the music they utilize in each episode.

As you can see the list has been slimmed down considerably. There have been other shows that I have gotten into throughout the season but have lost interest in or were canceled. Standoff on Tuesday was mildly interesting until the World Series interrupted it by about a month. After that I just didn’t care anymore. Surprisingly Kidnapped was a great show that was canceled after five episodes. With credit to NBC, however, they decided to have the writers finish the story arc in 13 episodes and will, at some point, air the remaining episodes on NBC.com. The Nine, which ABC had following LOST held my interest for about 1.2 shows. It has since been canceled. ABC’s Daybreak, which replaced LOST‘s 9pm Wednesday time-slot, has been pretty entertaining and has hooked me. It’s been designed as a 13 week filler until LOST returns. Hopefully it lasts that long. Another of ABC’s shows, Six Degrees, has disappeared from the schedule. Unfortunately I don’t think the network ever had much faith in this show even though it was on a level of it’s own — much like Studio 60. I hope it returns in the Spring but I’m not going to hold my breath. I’ve also thrown in a few Discovery Channel shows, thanks to the DVR like Mythbusters, Dirty Jobs, and newcomer Man vs. Wild. While most shows have gone into hibernation for the Christmas break I get to catch up with Entourage on DVD. Spring will bring the return of all of these shows and potentially a few more to add to the mix. Most importantly day six of 24. Enough said.

That’s a good way to end it. Can you tell I’m tired?

I’m not going to go through all the events of the day, but there are a few high points I want to look at.

I hope someone out there has taken notes as to how many times Jack has been fired/quit/etc from CTU over the course of the show. It’s interesting how he keeps coming back. I guess he likes the water in LA, or maybe it’s that seemingly everyone in the terrorist/counter terrorist field is highly attractive. Whatever it is, something keeps him there.

I also think it’s neat (but highly unlikely) that the Vice President, who became the President after Air Force One was shot down, calls in Ex-President David Palmer to basically run the country during the terrorist threat. Why? Other then the fact that new President Logan is a coward (you can insert other words here as well), this was clearly done as a way to get Palmer back on the show. It worked.

One clever bit of scripting, or whatever you want to call it, is the return of Mandy. Who? Mandy is evidently the best mercenary in the business as she has made multiple appearances throughout the four seasons of 24. Mandy first showed up on the very first episode where she slept with the photographer on the plane, stole his ID, blew up the plane as she sky dived to safety. The ID was later used to gain access to Palmer’s party where the initial attempt on his life was made. We later saw Mandy at the end of season two. She was the happy chick who shook Palmer’s hand spreading the poison that almost killed him. She either doesn’t like Palmer or gets paid really well by people who want him dead. In season four Mandy returns as the person who arranged the abduction of the Secretary of Defense. Of course, this bit of knowledge isn’t discovered until the very last moment when President Palmer, I mean Logan, is signing a “full immunity” agreement in exchange for knowledge on the missile (sound familiar?). Even though she receives the pardon from all crimes “past and present” I think we’ll see Mandy again. IMDB doesn’t have her credited at all in season five, but I see her returning in the future. She’s just too good at what she does.

One of the biggest story lines in the second half of the season is Jack’s storming of the consulate and the ramifications that follow. Basically in the end Jack is “killed” by the Secret Service agent sent to arrest him and the season ends with Jack walking the railroad tracks on his way to Mexico. He did get to chit chat with his buddy President Palmer who expressed his gratitude for what is supposed to be the last time but you and I both know it wont be. Irony my friends, irony.

All in all it was a pretty good season, better then the lackluster virus storyline of season three. There were elements that appear in every single season but this one seemed edgier and more on par with the hardcore first season. I’m excited to see season five, once it makes it’s way to DVD, and be fully caught up with 24. This is really a great show, just wish I would have been able to get into it sooner.

The first half of season three involves Jack reestablishing his cover with a Mexican drug cartel, of course though no one but Tony and the President know this. Long story short, Jack gets in and attempts to purchase a virus (later you find out it was so the virus is off the market and in control of CTU). Nina Myers comes in and fouls things up, just about everyone dies and the virus is lost.

Fast forward. The virus is released in a hotel, which is contained, just to show how deadly it is. Who’s behind the attack? Well that foreigner who was on the boat that ordered the hit on the President at the end of day two of course. Well, he’s put out 11 other virus bombs around the country (conveniently with GPS trackers on them), just to make things interesting. Jack captures Nina and then finally gets his revenge and kills her. That’s right, Nina can no longer show up and be involved in EVERY SINGLE TERRORIST EVENT IN LOS ANGELS!

Meanwhile the President’s little scandal forces him to decide not to run for reelection. The good thing that comes of it: Sherri Palmer gets killed! Yes, that evil woman is no more. But so is the Presidency so I guess that sucks.

Anyway, back to Jack. He captures the foreigner, threatens to throw his daughter into the hotel unless he gives up the GPS codes on the 11 virus-bombs and, yeah, he does. To make things all tense, the final GPS code reveals the guy bomb is in LA and is moving. Jack and his partner chase the bomb to a middle school where Jack’s partner kills the carrier and in the process handcuffs himself to the bomb, “to prevent him from escaping.” Well, being the “get things done” kind of guy that Jack is, he takes an ax and cuts Chase’s hand clear off, grabs the bomb and throws it in a freezer preventing the release of the virus. Day over.

No cliff hangers, no real threat, not a lot of excitement… for 24 at least. The season was good, just a lot of the same. At least Nina and Sherri are dead. And I guess Jack became a little more human because at the end of the season he breaks down crying. But I hear season 4 is the best one currently on DVD, so hopefully some redemption is underway. I’ll let you know.

The second season of 24 starts over a year since the end of first season. Jack Bauer has left CTU, blaming them for the death of his wife. His life is in shambles and he entertains the notion of killing himself. Jack’s relationship with his daughter, Kim, is less then stellar as she can’t seem to look at Jack without remembering her mother. Senator Palmer is now President Palmer and has divorced the she-devil that was his wife. Like in season one, a threat comes in that draws the attention of CTU. This time around a nuke is set to be detonated in the terrorist capital of America, Los Angeles. Of course, the only person capable of stopping this bomb from going off is Jack Bauer. President Palmer calls Jack into CTU and right away Jack’s “the rules be damned” attitude takes over and the second longest day of his life gets underway.

Jack follows up some leads, kills a few people, and discovers that a known Middle Eastern terrorist is responsible for bringing the nuke into America. While Jack goes off looking for that guy, President Palmer discovers that people in his administration are working against him; conveniently Palmer’s evil ex-wife shows up just in time to help him figure out who. When Jack finds the terrorist hiding under a mosque, the most intense moment of 24 (that I’ve seen at least) takes place. Jack captures the man, beats the hell out of him, and then convinces the man that security forces killed the man’s son — all in an effort to find the bomb.  When Jack was beating the man I had to remind myself that this was television — it was rather hardcore.

After his talk, Jack finds the bomb but of course, it can’t be disarmed. Jack decides to fly the bomb into the Mojave Dessert to reduce the harm to civilization. While he’s in the air, Jack phones his daughter to say goodbye. That five minute conversation is one of the most emotionally charged segments in television — I almost teared up, almost. Meanwhile, President Palmer discovers that the director of the NSA knew about the bomb for weeks and therefore was working against him. But he also learns that his former wife was also in on the conspiracy — yes, the she-devil returns!

After about 16 or so hours into the day the bomb goes off in the dessert and the whole focus of the season changes from finding the bomb to adverting a war with the Middle East. In the process Palmer is removed from office, Jack is killed and then brought back to life during a torture session, and Sherri Palmer gets stabbed (unfortunately she lives). At the very last minute Jack finds all those responsible, the bombers are recalled, and Palmer regains the Presidency. The day ends with President Palmer giving a speech and shaking hands with the crowd. One member of the crowd evidently had some sort of poison on her hand and Palmer goes down. There, my friends, is your cliff hanger.

The first 12 hours of 24′s season two are extremely exciting and intense television. The second half of the season slows down a bit as the there is no real terrorist plot to thwart, though it remains suspenseful to the bitter end.

Before my addiction to 24 I had never yelled at the television screen, willing a character to do one thing or not do another. 24 commands that kind of attention and is by far one of the best shows I have ever seen. Needless to say, the first disc of season three is on it’s way to my house.

Bottom line: Season two of 24 deserves to bee seen, especially the 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm episode.

24 is unlike any show I’ve ever seen. It takes place in “real time” meaning that the season is 24 hour long episodes that make up an entire day — and this is no ordinary day. Season one takes place on “the day of the California primary.” Senator Palmer is on his way to sweep Super Tuesday and gain the Democratic Party’s nomination for the White House. At midnight the CIA receives a credible threat on Palmer’s life that will take place by the end of the day. Since Palmer is in Los Angeles for the Primary, the threat is passed on to local CIA affiliate CTU — Counter Terrorist Agency — which is lead by Jack Bauer. As the day progresses the threat on Palmer extends to Bauer’s family as well. As Jack says, it is the longest day of his life. Not only does he have to figure out who is behind the assassination attempts and who has targeted his family, Jack also has to escape federal custody and figure out who the dirty agents are that are helping the other side. Like I said, it’s a long day.

If you haven’t seen this show and might like to, I wouldn’t read the next few paragraphs.

The show is extremely captivating and I found myself addicted to it. I watched the whole first season — Day One — over the weekend.

The character development is great. Jack comes off as a cowboy who is a little less than stable but will do whatever it takes to get the job done. Senator Palmer is shown as the extremely powerful yet oddly moral and honest politician who is willing to sacrifice his candidacy for what is “right.” Other characters include Jack’s hot daughter Kim who seems to be just as stubborn and unwilling to lay down and die as her father, his annoying wife Terrie who gets shot in the final hour (I’m pretty sure she died and that really doesn’t bother me at all) and Palmer’s power hungry wife who is almost a polar opposite to Palmer. This mirror is played off well and helps to elevate Palmer when, at the end of the day, he cuts his ties to his wife and has Secret Service escort her back to Washington.

At the end of the day we find out that CTU had a dirty agent at the highest level of the organization who wanted Jack dead. This is pretty much the only cliff hanger that the season provides (unless some how Jack’s wife isn’t dead) seeing as how everything got wrapped up in the 24 hour period — Jack killed all the terrorists who wanted him and Palmer dead.

Needless to say I give this show my full recommendation. It’s captivating, well written, addicting and one of the better shows on television. Season two, or Day Two, has been ordered and that review will come soon.