On TV Tonight, Monday 8/2/2010: LIE TO ME, THE CLOSER, and more

90210 “Sweaty Palms and Weak Knees” (Repeat) – 8pm CW AMERICA’S GOT TALENT – 8pm NBC THE BACHELORETTE – 8pm ABC HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER “Zoo or False” (Repeat) – 8pm CBS LAST COMIC STANDING “Top 5 Compete” – 8pm NBC LIE TO ME “Headlock” – 8pm Fox THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER “Chicken Little” – 8pm ABC Family RULES OF ENGAGEMENT “3rd Wheel” (Repeat) – 8:30pm CBS THE CLOSER “Layover” – 9pm TNT THE GOOD GUYS “Don’t Tase Me, Bro” – 9pm FOX GOSSIP GIRL “Inglorious Bassterds” (Repeat) – 9pm CW HUGE “Spirit Quest” – 9pm ABC Family TOTAL DRAMA WORLD TOUR “The Am-AH-zon Race” – 9pm Cartoon Network TWO AND A HALF MEN “Laxative Tester, Horse Inseminator” (Repeat) – 9pm CBS THE BIG BANG THEORY “The Dead Hooker Juxtaposition” (Repeat) – 9:30pm CBS CSI: MIAMI “Hostile Takeover” (Repeat) – 10pm CBS THE HARD TIMES OF RJ BERGER “It’s All About the Hamiltons” – 10pm MTV RIZZOLI & ISLES “She Works Hard for the Money” – 10pm TNT

SCOUNDRELS “Birds of a Feather Flock Together” Review

Cheryl celebrates her birthday and changes jobs again on the “Birds of a Feather Flock Together” episode of SCOUNDRELS . In her job at an insurance agency, newly ethical Cheryl learns her boss Penny pushes through false claims for employees and confronts her on it while flagging her friend Alice’s iffy, but legitimate, claim. She refuses to accept a promotion and continue Penny’s work but she does ensure Alice gets the money she deserves, snagging herself a partnership in Alice’s business while she’s at it. Wolf cuts Logan out of his life when Logan confesses he hasn’t worked on the appeal and Cal feels an unexpected sting when Mrs. Hong cuts him out of the life of his probable child. Holier than thou Cheryl bends her rules more than once. She doesn’t want her birthday cuckoo clock, not because it’s hideous, but because it came from Charlie’s store, yet her furniture that came from there is fine because that was from “before.” She proselytizes to Penny about stealing from the company right before boosting Penny’s car in an attempt to “steal from the bitch and give to the poor,” and she breaks into Penny’s home and blackmails her into paying Alice’s claim. Brenda Strong plays Penny as the supreme Queen of the Bitches, so it’s hard not to root against her, but Cheryl’s condescension makes it equally hard to root for her. Logan taking the fall for not working on Wolf’s appeal doesn’t help, either, nor does Cheryl’s inability to take her own advice in realizing that not everything is as it seems. Logan is so not the good son here: he just finds ways to justify the crap he pulls. Kind of like Cheryl. On the other hand, Virginia Madsen nails every scene and her flirtation with Sergeant Mack is kind of hot, so there`s that. The Heather-Chantal scenes are painful. Heather is so desperately wannabe famous that she’s the easiest mark ever, and Chantal rolls right over her even after Hope’s warning that Chantal is keeping Heather close only because she sees her as “the new blood nipping at her spiked heels.” Hope shows her West family loyalty by destroying Chantal’s hair., and Logan could learn from her. Cal figures out Logan slept with Patty, but Logan refuses responsibility because it was really Cal-as played by Logan-who slept with her. Oookay. Cal has bigger problems with Mrs. Hong’s pregnancy, and may I add to the chorus, “Why didn’t you use condoms, you moron?” How dumb and/or blind is Mr. Hong, anyway? And why doesn’t Patty notice Cal’s magically disappearing/reappearing beard? This is the tightest written episode of Scoundrels yet, but the one dimensionality of most of the characters makes it hard to get and stay involved. With Cheryl getting a permanent job and Wolf realizing Cheryl is avoiding him and Logan isn’t helping him, maybe there can finally be actual character development. I hope so. What did you think of “Birds of a Feather Flock Together?” Let me know in the comments. Follow me on Twitter @michstjame

PERSONS UNKNOWN “Saved” Review

‘Saved’, episode 8 of PERSONS UNKNOWN found Joe strapped to a table in some sort of laboratory, Renbe and Kat in South America still on the trail of the organization, Graham and Moira sorting out some personal issues and Tori returning from the dead. So Joe is actually Father Joe, a priest from South America. He is forced to endure painful procedures of brainwashing as the ‘program’ tries to eradicate his love for Janet. Because I never felt that Janet and Joe’s bond was anything truly deep, it was not difficult to see Joe turn away from her-at least in the lab. What will happen when he comes face to face with her next week? I look forward to that confrontation. The revelation that Joe, unlike Janet, did shoot someone when he was ordered to was exciting. Janet shot the camera, if you remember, but Joe, as a priest, shot a man, guaranteeing his passage through the program. Tori makes a welcome reappearance, this time as Joe’s nurse. “I am what they need me to be,” she tells Joe when he questions her vocation. The fact that ‘they’ includes her father, Ambassador Fairchilds, elevates the creepiness. Remember, ‘they’ also needed her to be a hooker. Graham and Moira’s relationship gets more complex. She is still confounded by the revelation that he was a hitman. Graham is understandably annoyed that she is still harping on about this, despite the fact that they settled it in last week’s episode and, even more importantly, he has led the group and saved everyone’s lives several times. But he then loses all of my sympathy with the line: “You’re the only person who saw me for what I am on the inside!” Puke. Eventually he hears her scrubbing and finds her wiping clean the walls of her bedroom. She tells him she’s not interested in the writings if he’s not interested and he assures her he is interested and then tries to kiss her. She backs away from the awkward situation and he leaves, embarrassed. Then she whispers “if only you knew” and we’ll have to wait until next week to see the resolution of my favourite relationship. Blackham finally serves a purpose and becomes remotely interesting: he has a sort of breakdown, and later discovers the shock barrier has been taken down to allow him to escape. However, he realizes he has nowhere to go, and returns. Does this mean he’s passed the program? Renbe and Kat meanwhile meet the sole escapee of the program; a patient in a mental institution in South America. She is eventually taken (again) by the program after conversing with Renbe and Kat. Aside from figuring out Joe was once a priest, their story was the same old Amazing Race plot it’s been for the last few episodes. It was an episode where everyone seemingly had a breakdown. It was an episode with enough developments to be entertaining, but the show lacks the sort of energy and depth that a show like Lost oozed. The world of the show is unconvincing: when Erika looks through Janet’s dossier, she notes that she is exactly who she claims to be: “a mother of a six year old.” Really? Is that how a person is defined? How about a job, a home, her parents, her husband, the concerts she’s gone to, the college she attended or the bills she’s paid. They’re small details, but it’s the small details that build a show. What did you think of this latest episode of Persons Unknown “Saved”? Sound off in the comment section below.

On TV Tonight, Sunday 8/1/2010: RUBICON, LEVERAGE, and more

SONS OF TUCSON “Ron Quits” – 7pm Fox AMERICAN DAD “In Country…Club” (Repeat) – 7:30pm Fox BIG BROTHER 12 – 8pm CBS EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION “Montgomery Family” (Repeat) – 8pm ABC LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT “The Mobster Will See You Now” (Repeat) – 8pm NBC RUBICON “Gone in the Teeth” – 8pm AMC THE SIMPSONS “To Surveil With Love” (Repeat) – 8pm Fox UNNATURAL HISTORY “Public School Enemies” (Repeat) – 8pm Cartoon Network THE CLEVELAND SHOW “A Cleveland Brown Christmas” (Repeat) – 8:30pm Fox AMERICA’S GOT TALENT (Repeat) – 9pm NBC DROP DEAD DIVA “Queen of Mean” – 9pm Lifetime FAMILY GUY “The Splendid Source” (Repeat) – 9pm Fox LEVERAGE “The Boost Job” – 9pm TNT RUBICON “The First Day of School” – 9pm AMC SCOUNDRELS “Birds of a Feather Flock Together” – 9pm ABC TRUE BLOOD “Hitting the Ground” – 9pm HBO UNDERCOVER BOSS “Hooters” (Repeat) – 9pm CBS FAMILY GUY “Brian Griffin’s House of Payne” (Repeat) – 9:30pm Fox ARMY WIVES “Hearts & Minds” – 10pm Lifetime THE GATES “Jurisdiction” – 10pm ABC THE GLADES “Mucked Up” – 10pm A&E THE GOOD WIFE “Fleas” – 10pm CBS HUNG “A Man, A Plan or Thank You, Jimmy Carter” – 10pm HBO MAD MEN “Christmas Comes But Once a Year” – 10pm AMC MY BOYS “Mike-Fest” – 10pm TBS ENTOURAGE “Bottoms Up” – 10:30pm HBO

On TV Tonight, Sunday 8/1/2010: RUBICON, LEVERAGE, and more

SONS OF TUCSON “Ron Quits” – 7pm Fox AMERICAN DAD “In Country…Club” (Repeat) – 7:30pm Fox BIG BROTHER 12 – 8pm CBS EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION “Montgomery Family” (Repeat) – 8pm ABC LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT “The Mobster Will See You Now” (Repeat) – 8pm NBC RUBICON “Gone in the Teeth” – 8pm AMC THE SIMPSONS “To Surveil With Love” (Repeat) – 8pm Fox UNNATURAL HISTORY “Public School Enemies” (Repeat) – 8pm Cartoon Network THE CLEVELAND SHOW “A Cleveland Brown Christmas” (Repeat) – 8:30pm Fox AMERICA’S GOT TALENT (Repeat) – 9pm NBC DROP DEAD DIVA “Queen of Mean” – 9pm Lifetime FAMILY GUY “The Splendid Source” (Repeat) – 9pm Fox LEVERAGE “The Boost Job” – 9pm TNT RUBICON “The First Day of School” – 9pm AMC SCOUNDRELS “Birds of a Feather Flock Together” – 9pm ABC TRUE BLOOD “Hitting the Ground” – 9pm HBO UNDERCOVER BOSS “Hooters” (Repeat) – 9pm CBS FAMILY GUY “Brian Griffin’s House of Payne” (Repeat) – 9:30pm Fox ARMY WIVES “Hearts & Minds” – 10pm Lifetime THE GATES “Jurisdiction” – 10pm ABC THE GLADES “Mucked Up” – 10pm A&E THE GOOD WIFE “Fleas” – 10pm CBS HUNG “A Man, A Plan or Thank You, Jimmy Carter” – 10pm HBO MAD MEN “Christmas Comes But Once a Year” – 10pm AMC MY BOYS “Mike-Fest” – 10pm TBS ENTOURAGE “Bottoms Up” – 10:30pm HBO

Common Cast on AMC’s HELL ON WHEELS

Rapper-turned-actor, Common, has been cast in AMC’s newest pilot, HELL ON WHEELS in one of the lead roles. Hell on Wheels is a contemporary western that centers on the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. Common will take on the role of Elam, a freed slave who comes west seeking work on the railroad and his place in the world. As a half black, half white man he does not completely belong to either world. “Common brings a layered intensity to a very complex role,” said Joel Stillerman, Senior Vice President of Programming, Production and Digital Content. “This part required someone who can transcend the stereotypes of the period and bring the character to life in a truly unique way, and he brings that. We are thrilled to have him join our cast.” Hell on Wheels was created and written by Joe and Tony Gayton (Faster/Uncommon Valor/Salton Sea /Bulletproof) who will also executive produce. Common was most recently seen in the movies Just Wright and Date Night , but Hell on Wheels will be his first leading role on television.

JACK HUNTER AND THE LOST TREASURE OF UGARIT Review

Tonight, July 31st, the Syfy channel is airing a movie called JACK HUNTER AND THE LOST TREASURE OF UGARIT at 9 pm/8c. It aired originally in 2008 as one part of a three-part miniseries and features Alaina Hoffman (Stargate Universe), Joanne Kelly (Warehouse 13), and Ivan Sergi (Gravity) as the infamous Jack Hunter. The Lost Treasure of Ugarit tells the story of Jack Hunter, a archaeologist and treasure hunter that sets off Syria to find the killer of his father, Professor Fredrick, who believed that Syria held the lost treasure of a Pharoah. While in Syria, Hunter discovers that there might be something to Fredrick’s claims and begins to pick up where his work left off. However, Jack is not alone. In Syria he meets up with a woman named Nadine, who works in the Syria Ministry of Archaeology and thinks Jack is up to no good as well as Nadine’s co-worker Tariq Khaliff (Mario Bassill). The three of them begin an adventure to find the man that killed Jack’s father and the lost treasure that has been hidden for centuries.To make matters worse, somebody else is after the treasure. Jack and company must find it before Albert Littman (Thure Riefenstein) and the Russian mob get to it first. Here are the pros and cons The Lost Treasure of Ugarit . First, it was filmed on location in Turkey, Syria, and Egypt, so it doesn’t have that cheap, filmed in a back lot studio feel. The acting is decent and the story is okay. Be warned that the dialogue is very cheesy. Jack Hunter is dressed up to look like Indiana Jones and has that whole “I don’t follow the rules” attitude that you’d expect from a cheesy action show. Although the story was decent, I couldn’t really get into it. Syfy usually doesn’t disappoint me when it comes to their television shows, however, I don’t think I’ve enjoyed any of their Original Movies up to now. Leave me a comment and let me know what you thought of The Lost Treasure of Ugarit Follow me on Twitter @amiedaemons .

CRISS ANGEL MINDFREAK Season 6 Details

A&E’s original series CRISS ANGEL MINDFREAK returns for its sixth season featuring six new episodes premiering on Wednesday, August 4 at 10 PM ET/PT with “Grand Canyon Death Jump.” In season six of Criss Angel Mindfreak , the world renowned mystifier amps up his unthinkable escapes, fearless demonstrations and mind-blowing feats testing his own limits and that of his audience in six epic one-hour specials. He brings the series to new heights with a spectacular attempted jump across the Grand Canyon on a high performance hybrid motorcycle. He will either miraculously reappear in a locked cage dangling from a hovering helicopter… or plummet 4,200 feet to his death.  He challenges gravity as he attempts to walk up the side of the Luxor Hotel and Casino in full view of the public above, below and around. He combines two of his most acclaimed demonstrations in another episode by attempting to levitate hundreds of feet in the air and vanish.  Criss goes for the extraordinary as he tries to set a Guinness World Record with the largest mass vanish ever, attempting to make more than 100 spectators disappear in the blink of an eye. And he pays homage to Houdini’s bridge jump escape and the mob’s “cement shoes” legend at the historical London Bridge in Lake Havasu in front of more than 12,000 spectators.   The six epic one-hour specials include:   “Grand Canyon Death Jump” – Wednesday, August 4 at 10 PM ET/PT In his most amazing and dangerous demonstration to date, Criss attempts to jump the Grand Canyon on a high-performance hybrid motorcycle. He will either miraculously appear inside a locked cage dangling from a helicopter or plummet 4,200 feet to his death.   “Luxor Walk” – Wednesday, August 11 at 10 PM ET/PT Criss Angel attempts to defy the laws of gravity and walk up the entire side of the Luxor Hotel and Casino which rises more than 650 feet above the Las Vegas strip and disappear into the incinerating light atop the pyramid in front of thousands of spectators. “Cement Shoes” – Wednesday, August 18 at 10 PM ET/PT An homage to Harry Houdini’s most dangerous escape, Criss is chained and shackled with more than 100 feet of chains and more than 20 locks and lowered 90 feet from the side of the London Bridge in the cold, murky water of Lake Havasu, Arizona in front of 12,000 spectators.  To make the escape even more impossible and drowning an almost certainty, Criss has his feet imbedded in a barrel of cement before being lowered off the bridge and deep into the lake below. “Smash” At the monumental Grand Canyon Sky Walk, in front of more than one thousand onlookers, Criss is shackled and locked inside a confining solid crate except for holes to view his face and hands at all times.  The crate is then hoisted over the edge of the canyon more than 4,200 feet above the Colorado River.  Criss reveals his process of escape but if he does not succeed in time, he will fatally crash to the rocky depths below. “Levitation Vanish” With Criss’ chaotic schedule, including his live performance of BeLIEve ten times each week, the taping of his hit TV series and moving into Serenity, his new home, Criss decides to escape the city for the Valley of Fire deep into the Mojave desert. In this remote and mystical place, Criss will attempt to miraculously levitate more than 100 feet up into the sky and then vanish.   “100 Gone” The Guinness World Records is on hand and sets the test conditions as Criss attempts the largest vanish of people in history at the Luxor Convention Arena. One hundred people are chosen at random and shackled together in front of a crowd of thousands and Criss attempts to make them all disappear—instantaneously!

Season 2 of UNDERCOVER BOSS Picks Four New Companies

UNDERCOVER BOSS returns for its second season with some new executives going undercover to take an inside look at their own companies. The new season will premieres in a special time period on Sunday, September 26 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) before moving to its regular time period (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on Sunday, Oct. 3. Among the initial companies whose bosses have signed up for the undercover mission include: NASCAR (Steve Phelps, Senior Vice President and CMO) — the sanctioning body for the #1 spectator sport in the U.S. DirecTV (Mike White, Chairman, President and CEO) — the world’s most popular video service, delivering state-of-the-art technology to over 25 million customers Chiquita Brands International, Inc. (Fernando Aguirre, Chairman and CEO) — a leading international marketer and distributor of bananas, fruits and salads Great Wolf Resorts (Kimberly K. Schaefer, CEO) — North America’s largest family of indoor waterpark resorts. Airdates and additional companies will be announced at a later date. “We’re thrilled with this season’s new batch of bosses,” stated Stephen Lambert, creator/executive producer of UNDERCOVER BOSS. “The companies are some of the best known brands in corporate America, and clearly — with the likes of NASCAR, Chiquita, DirecTV and Great Wolf Resorts — we’ve got an interesting blend of industries.” Each week, Undercover Boss follows a different executive as they leave the comfort of their corner office for an undercover mission to examine the inner workings of their companies. While working alongside their employees, they see the effects their decisions have on others, where the problems lie within their organizations and get an up-close look at both the good and the bad while discovering the unsung heroes who make their companies run.

THE GLADES (A&E) “Mucked Up” Episode 4

Check out some photos from the upcoming episode of A&E’s new original series THE GLADES “Mucked Up ” Episode 4 which airs August 1 at 10pm on A&E. Episode Synopsis: THE GLADES “Mucked Up” Episode 4 – Jim is introduced to the intensely competitive world of Florida high school football as the small town of Pahokee prepares for the annual “Muck Bowl,” an event that draws national attention because of the many NFL players who came from that area and who have played in that game. When the dead body of a businessman emerges from the muck in a sugar cane field days before the big game, Longworth must figure out who would want the man dead. Pohokee’s star player appears to be the most viable suspect, but Longworth’s boss, Colleen Manus, warns him not to cause a disturbance in Pahokee since the game means everything to the community. But Longworth is not going to let anything, not a little muck and certainly not a football game, stand in the way of getting the killer–or killers. Guest stars Bobby Bowden (legendary Florida State football coach) Click Any Photo Below To Enlarge

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