07:30    The Name Of The Game
09:00    The Greatest American Hero
10:00    Riptide

The Name Of The Game.  Season 1, Episode 6.  "Incident In Berlin"  Superb espionage drama finds Glenn Howard taking centre stage when one of his reporters is arrested behind the Iron Curtain, on suspicion of being a spy.  The first half of the movie details Howard's attempts to get the US government to do something.  This leads to the big twist at the mid-point, wherein Howard discovers why the Americans have been stone-walling him.  After that, it's off to Berlin as the mullionaire publisher sets about getting his man back himself, by setting up an elaborate sting operation with the help of the man's mistress.

It might sound like many other similar tales, but this is better.  Gene Barry in particular makes this work.  His Glenn Howard is one of television's most debonair heroes, and this episode shows him at his stylish best: matching wits with intelligence agencys on both sides of the Iron Curtain and never stuck for a witty response.  The fast pace of the plot is another plus.  It moves rapidly and packs every scene with some new development.  All of the characters are interesting and well crafted: the reporter/spy, his bitter wife, his mistress, the KGB agent holding him and the CIA agent trying to help/hinder Howard in his mission.  The cast are, likewise, superb and the ending is very clever.  Written by Richard Levinson and William Link this has all the hallmarks of a clever Columbo denoument.  As the seconds count down, and with considerable panaché, Glenn Howard is able to outwit every other player in the game and it makes for great TV.

The Greatest American Hero.  Episode 6.  "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys"  This wonderful script brought tears to my eyes.  Yup, I cried like a little girl watching this one.  I'm not embarrassed, either.  It's one of Stephen J. Cannell's best scripts.  The story starts with a major upset for both Ralph and Bill.  Ralph nearly kills a busload of people and starts to have serious doubts about continuing to use the suit.  Next: one of Bill's best (only?) friends hints that he wants Bill to help him out with a heist.

Both lead characters have to deal with their hero issues:  Bill's hero (the guy saved his life during the war) has gone dirty and Bill falls apart coming to terms with that revelation.  Ralph, meanwhile, gets to meet his childhood hero: John Hart (playing himself).  It is in these scenes that the episode really shines.  Hart, known to millions as The Lone Ranger, gives a few short words of advice on what it means to be a hero.  Hart's a great actor.  So is William Katt.  I think it's impossible not to have tears in your eyes as you watch him with The Lone Ranger.

Despite being such a Ralph-Bill driven episode, the show still manages to feature Pam in every scene and still give her lots to do.  Her constant support of Ralph (while expressing her honest dislike for "the suit") makes Pam into a very special character, and a great member of the team.  The character could have been frakked up in a major way.  If Pam had been kept in the dark and used as a source of tension/comedy it would have been awful.  Worse, she could have been in on the secret and acted like a total B the whole time.  Instead, the writers found a way to make her hate the suit and still love Ralph and what he does.  And, in doing so, created one of TV's best couples: communicative and loving.  It's great.

There's also a classic scene late in the episode where she's alone with Bill and we get an insight into how fond of her he has become and how inept (and offensive) he is at expressing it.  Connie Sellecca is wonderful in this scene, and in all the others, too.  A real classy lady.

Riptide.  Episode 5.  "The Mean Green Love Machine"  Despite starting off like an A-Team idea (which it might have been, seeing as it was written by Stephen J. Cannell, The A-Team creator) the episode really comes into it's own at the mid-way point.  A pretty girl (of course!) hires the guys to find her dad, who has disappeared in Mexico with his much younger and very pretty (of course!) new wife.  Turns out he's fallen victim to a big scam and it's up the the guys to save the day.  As well as the usual helicopter-action and shoot-outs there's a long sequence where Murray is sent undercover as a 'mark' for the bad guys to target.  Murray has Nick and Cody speaking instructions into his hidden earpiece as he deals with the advances of the very sexy seductress.  The results are genuinely hilarious.  It's one of my favourite scenes from the entire series of Riptide.

Highlight?  The Name Of The Game

08:00    Rescue 77
09:00    Keen Eddie
10:00    In Plain Sight
11:00    Perfect Strangers
11:30    Joey

Rescue 77.  Episode 2.  "Career Day"  How much you like this episode (and - indeed - the whole series) depends on how much you like the cast.  When you tune in you are basically hanging out with these people.  This episode is divided evenly between work and play.  Scenes of the three characters sitting around shooting the breeze (or playing pranks) are followed by scenes of activity and action as they rush to save lives (fighting aggressive patients or dodging bullets).  It's a standard formula.  But it really works here.  Partly because the mini-stories are good: a Russian woman whose grandfather won't accept medical help and an unhinged boy who turns sniper at his high-school and - later - takes the firestation crew hostage.  On paper it all sounds rather trite, on screen it all works rather well.

Keen Eddie.  Episode 3.  "Keeping Up Appearances"  Weakest episode so far.  Eddie is left an expensive car (and driver) in an old lady's will.  This grants him access to a world of priviledge and snobbery that he never saw before.  The problem is: the woman's estranged son keeps stealing the car and trying to sell it to pay off his debts.  Some of the comedy falls flat, and the point (about riches and good looks, etc.) is a bit laboured.  That said, the ending is powerful.  Profound and sad and rather excellent.  Makes watching the episode more than worthwhile.

In Plain Sight.  Episode 5.  "Who Shot Jay Arnstein?"  The best Summer show that's not The Closer or Burn Notice contines to shine.  When Jay was relocated six months ago he brought his wife and his mistress with him!  Now he's been shot and his secrets are all out in the open.  It's a good story with lots of great touches.  Marshall is becoming my favourite character on the show.  His wealth of useless knowledge (which proves vital to the case) and his treatment of the mistress are stand-out moments.  I also love the scenes with the sister.  As usual the scenes with her are kept short (the way b-plots should be) and her honest compassion for Mary's boyfriend makes her a much more likable character.  Great show.

Perfect Strangers.  Episode 4.  "Baby, You Can Drive My Car"  Some of the best physical comedy from the first season occurs on the coffee table as Larry and Balki sit there and Larry teaches Balki to drive.

Joey.  Season 2, Episode 20.  "Joey and the Actor's Studio"  Buried late in the second season of Joey is another pretty good episode.  Joey and Alex are on the verge of starting a relationship when she sees him confronted by a roomful of his ex-girlfriends while appearing on Inside The Actor's Studio.  Alex is not as good a match for Joey as Sara was in Season One (or Rachel was, on Friends) but it's still nice to see the show taking the character in this direction.

Highlight?  Perfect Strangers

06:30    Perfect Strangers
07:00    My Boys
09:30    Good Morning Miami
10:00    The Avengers
11:30    The Sentinel
12:30    Acapulco HEAT
01:30    Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles

Perfect Strangers.  Episode 3.  "First Date"  The joy of this show is in watching Balki, who is clueless about everyday life, learn about stuff from Larry, who is also clueless but hides it better.  It's all rather sweet how they lean on one another for support and - somehow - manage to educate each other as they stumble along.  The other joy, of course, is the flawless slapstick.  While the concept for the series is strong, and guaranteed to provide opportunity for laughs no matter who was cast, the slapstick/chemistry is a different matter.  Nobody but these two actors could have accomplished what Mark Linn-Baker and Bronson Pinchot.  Their easy genius at their roles is a shart contrast to the rest of the season 1 cast: Lise Cutter and Ernie Sabella who are bland and forgettable.  Basically it feels as if two characters from an inferior sit-com have wandered onto the Perfect Strangers set.  And while the early episodes are still wonderful, the show won't truly be complete until Jennifer and Mary Anne arrive.  No sign of them this week (but they are not far away) and romance is in the air, as Larry teaches Balki how to meet women.  Classic.

My Boys.  Season 2, Episode 3.  "The Shirt Contest"  The joy of this show is the friendships between the group.  I honestly can't think of a sitcom that so perfectly captures the feeling of being in a group of friends.  Aside from the chemistry of the cast, the show manages to tell interesting stories.  This episode has PJ trying to write a book with a sports celebrity and not making much progress.  While Brendan meets his ex in a very embarrasing (and relatable) situation. And while all this is going on, the gang banter as usual.

Good Morning Miami.  Episode 2.  "Power Failure"  The pre-credits sequence of this episode is awful.  It's not funny and the main character comes across as jerk.  I wonder how many potential viewers were driven away by that opening?  It's a pity, because once the credits have rolled, everything at follows is comedy gold.  Particularly the staff meeting where all the regular characters are on-screen together.  Penny and Frank get all the biggest laughs, but everyone is on top form.

It's a pity that they aired the hero-behaves-like-a-jerk-until-he-learns-his-lesson episode this early.  When you think about it, the show has an unappealing concept and lead character.  Yes, everything that happened in the pilot was wonderrful and romantic but - once he realised that the object of his affections was in a long-term relationship - the hero of the piece should have backed off.  It's really the only heroic thing to do.  Everything that he does in the series that follows could be seen as the actions of a jerk trying to break up a couple on his own whim.  That's not very likable.  What was needed here, I feel, was an opening/episode where Gavin regrets taking the job and decides to leave Dylan alone.  The audience might like him more for doing that.  Instead of behaving in such an arrogant manner.  Gavin wasn't like that in the series that followed: it was circumstances that kept throwing him and Dylan together.

So, I feel, this episode - while funny - dropped the ball completely by not driving home the concept of the series at a time when it was imporant to do so.

The Avengers.  Episode 143.  "Noon Doomsday"  For a show to have a cult following it must be rewatchable.  The episodes must have a quality in them that allows fans to go back time and time again and always enjoy what they are seeing.  If a show creates a strong sense of place, for instance, then fans will happily go back time and again to "visit" that place.  This episode of The Avengers (like many/most episodes of the show) creates a wonderful sense of time and place and populates the location with fascinating characters.  It's a truly pleasureable hour of TV.

Steed is in hospital.  A hospital that looks like a country farmhouse.  A well-guarded country farmhouse, that is.  A heavily-armed agent prowls the perimeter and the whole place is surrounded by a minefield.  The minefield is intened to keep enemies out.  Unfortunately an enemy of Steed's is coming to get him and he's managed to get an inside man to kill the heavily-armed agent on duty and he's on his way by helicopter.  So it is Steed, in fact, who is held back by the minefield.  Plus, he's recovering from injuries.  Luckily, all this happened on the same day that Tara popped by for a visit...

And there you have it.  Lots of running and shouting and action, and all of it takes place inside, between and on top of the buildings of this 'quiet' settings.  It's superb stuff.  With a story modelled after High Noon, Tara finds that none of the other hospitalised agents are willing to help (an injured) Steed take on his foe.

This is a great Tara episode.  She's constantly running around.  One minute pleading with someone to help, the next minute she's in a life or death struggle with some bad guy or others.  The fact that she's only a novice agent makes everything all the more exciting.  Steed thinks she hasn't a hope, and he has every reason to think so.  I don't think that it's a bad reflection on Steed that he has no faith in his 'partner'.  Rather he is very much aware that she is no Emma Peel and could very well get herself killed.

It's also interesting that Tara has no knowledge of Steed's injuries or the mission he was on when he got them.  It drives home the fact that they are not 'partners' at all and really do have more of a mentor/pupil relationship.  Which is one of the things I love most about this era of the show's history.

I also love the Opening Title sequence (with Steed and Tara in a field of Knights). I read earlier this week that it was filmed on July 3rd, 1968. But I can't find the website now where I read that!!

The Sentinel.  Season 3, Episode 8.  "Storm Warning"  As I've written before if a show creates a strong sense of place then fans will happily go back time and again to "visit" that place.  This is true of The Sentinel as much as of any cult show.  Most episode have that wonderful rainy city backdrop and other episodes take the characters to some unique place for an adventure.  This episode, for example, takes Jim (the cop with super senses) and Blair (his observer/watcher) to a remote island which is being besieged by heavily-armed drug-runners during a storm.

The Sentinel is very much a hit-and-miss show.  Some episodes hit their mark to perfection, and other episodes are so wide of the mark you have to wonder how it could even be the same series.  This one, thankfully, falls into the former category.  The episode does everything right.  Every element, every guest actor/character, every glance between Jim and Blair, every action sequence, every twist in the story, etc.  All are just right.  It's great fun from start to finish.

Jim only uses his powers twice in the episode and neither of those times has any real impact on the story.  That often happens on The Sentinel.  His powers are often irrelevant to the story (unless they are the story).  This week, it's just a standard cop thriller.  And it's a very good one: it's got at least one example of a siege, a shoot-out, a chase and a double-cross.  As well as all the action, you have likable main characters and a solid entertaining story.  Exactly the elements I want from an episode of The Sentinel.

Acapulco HEAT.  Episode 6.  "Feminine Intuition"  Although still beset by low production values and wooden acting (from the guest stars) this episode of AH is a step up in terms of story content and story intent.  The story not only engages us by having Ashley go up against and old partner (who has now turned bad) it establishes that the team are a potent force for good in their part of the world.

Too many scenes just look like actors sitting around their hotel rooms (which is basically what it is, I suppose) and none of the guest cast can make their characters work.  But, luckily, they don't get much screen time.  The regular cast are great in this.  The scenes devoted to the mission are solid, as are all the downtime scenes, showing the team members having fun and hanging out.  The topic of female intuition is a recurring topic of conversation all through the episode and it works perfectly against the man story.  Not only as a source of (genuine) amusement, but it also (cleverly) feeds into a super-cool bit at the end when Mike shoots a bad guy behind a closed door without knowing where he would be hiding.

Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles.  Episode 1.  "Freefall"  Here you have an exceptionally cool show about war, which doesn't make war seem cool in the slightest.  Instead the mood is depressing and oppressive.  This first episode does a great job introducing the regular characters and establishing their personalities.

Highlight?  The Sentinel

09:30    That '70s Show

That '70s Show.  Season 5, Episode 25.  "Graduation"  I've not seen this show for years.  And I happen to flick on and see (pretty much) the last episode I saw.  Not much to say about it.  It's every bit as funny as I remember.  The cast chemistry is fantastic, I relate to Eric in a million ways and Donna is probably TV's all-time Coolest Girlfriend!

11:00    Riptide

Riptide.  Episode 4.  "Hatchet Job"  Good performances from Thom Bray and guest star Maylo McCaslin are the highlight of this episode.  A woman hires the guys to find out who killed her boyfriend three years earlier.  It turns out that she might have done it herself.  She doesn't remember what exactly happened and she's been locked up in a state mental hospital ever since.  McCaslin is very beautiful and she gives a wonderful emotional performance.  Bray, meanwhile, gets even more opportunity than usual for a bit of slapstick when Muray decides to pull his weight a bit more and get into the physical side of detective work a bit more.  It's a lot of fun from start to finish.  There are a lot of action sequences, which - in this episode - actually get in the way of a good story.  The three leads have great chemistry in this one, and - when you think about it - it's male fantasy TV: car chases and fist fights and a beautiful woman to be saved.

07:00    The Greatest American Hero
08:00    The Avengers
09:00    Good Morning Miami
10:30    Rescue 77
11:30    Due South

The Greatest American Hero.  Episode 5.  "Reseda Rose"  The timeframe for all these early episodes is the same: a few short hours.  And that excitement factor is part of the considerable appeal of the show: Bill always shows up when Ralph is trying to do something else.  And they always rush off leaving other people waiting on them, or with only a few hours before Ralph has to be somewhere/do something.  As well as being funny, it adds an extra level of tension to the proceedings.  Everything is happening against the clock.  Often over the course of one evening.

Factor in the great dialogue between Ralph, Pam and Bill and you have another great episode.

The Avengers.  Episode 142.  "False Witness"  In much the same way that my favourite season of Due South is the last one (the one with unpopular cast changes) my favourite season of The Avengers is also the last one (the one with unpopular cast changes).  I adore Tara King.  And, by default, Linda Thorson also.  I love the type of stories (fantasy-espionage) and the type of relationship between the leads (mentor/pupil).  And, in gereral, the show is inventive and great fun.

Case in point: a story about several people who are saying the exact opposite of what they intend to say.  Mysterous.  And unfortunate, given that some of them happen to Agents on assignment and others are key witnesses in a major prosecution.  All of this mystery is very entertaining.  So is the solution: a nefarious organisation drugging the milk supply!  If you take your coffee black then you are safe!  Great stuff.  Steed and Tara mostly mostly work alone in this one, and each comes off very well in the story.  The highpoint is the hectic climax with several bad guys (drugged by Steed) running around saying the oppsite of what they mean: Steed's not here, He's not over there, etc.

I came to The Avengers through The New Avengers (which is still my favouite of the two) so I'm used to seeing a Steed who is older and superior.  The earlier seasons of the original show always seemed odd to me because of that.  And while the Steed-Peel partnership is great fun and - many would say - set the standard by which all male-female partnerships are judged on televisioon, I still get more of a kick from watching Steed with Tara King.

Plus, I've also had a huge crush on her since 1982 (when I first saw the show)!

Good Morning Miami.  Episode 1.  "Good Morning, Miami"  I love this show.  Although much maligned, it's hilarious and very, very sweet.  In fact, together with Flying Blind and Almost Perfect (both of which I also have on tape) it's one of my favourite three short-lived romantic comedies.  Flying Blind is my all-time favourite.  And while the romances on these shows aren't quite as special as the ones between David & Maddie, Sam & Diane, Spike & Lynda or Vince & Penny they have still managed to find a special place in my heart.

Good Morning Miami starts when Jake goes along for a job interview for a job he doesn't really want.  He has the world at his feet and he isn't taking it seriously at all (he's only in town to visit his grandmother).  When he meets a girl called Dylan (who works there) everything changes and he takes the job to be near to her.  Later discovering that she has a boyfriend.

It's silly.  But so, so romantic.  And I loved this show with a passion the moment I first saw Jake staring at Dylan.  As time went on, I grew a bit weary of the romance but I grew to love the ensemble more and more with every passing episode (particularly the great Jere Burns as Frank) and I developed a huge crush on Constance Zimmer as Penny.  So much so that it is her picture I use on my DVR menus for this show.  The picture of her smiling from the Season One opening credits.  I don't think I've ever seen a smile as radiant as that.

This first episode is a great first episode.  Very romantic, very sweet and very, very funny.  Ashley Williams is adorable as Dylan as soon as she walks on screen and it's obvious why Jake falls in love at first sight.

Me?  I would have stayed at the front desk chatting with Penny!

Rescue 77.  Episode 1.  "Rescue 77"  Produced and directed by Eric Laneuville, starring Christian Kane, Marjorie Monaghan, Robia LaMorte, Terence Knox and Richard Roundtree Rescue 77 is a collection of the names I most like to see in the credits for anything.  I came to it with high expectations from the very beginning and it never disappointed.  Indeed one episode has stayed with me for many, many years and can still bring a tear to my eye when I think of it or hear the music from it.

But I'll get to that in a few weeks.

This is about the first episode.  And what a great first episode it is.  It takes all the old rescue-show clichés and mixes them up to give you a whole new show.  I grew up watching shows like Code R, 240-Robert and Chopper Squad and this one is every bit as good as all those.

Kathleen Ryan returns to active duty in the opening minutes of the story and is reunited with her old partners on the Emergency Medical Service.  Wick Lobo is the daring one, creative on the job and crazy off the job.  Michael Bell is the quite solid one, he's got a romantic interest in a nurse but he's taking his time with the pursuit.  Kathleen, we learn, burned out on the job after a particularly rough rescue in which several children perished.  But she's back now.  And together they form a credible team.  Their first day together (again) finds them saving a worker from under collapsed debris and a pilot from a crashed plane.  All these scenes are exciting and fun to watch.  The main thrust of the story - however - involves a woman who is being beaten by her boyfriend.  The team befriend her, but are later called back to find her shot and dying.  Her final moments of life are truly sad.  She asks Kathleen if she will die.  And Kathleen tells her the truth.

On paper it probably sounds awful, but this was a special show, and a great first episode.  The cast had terrific chemistry and the show's fantasy elements (Wick's crazy way to save the man in the tunnel) are balanced with good human drama and a real-world perspective on the place of paramedics within the system.

The show also had two great themes: Early episodes and later episodes.

Due South.  Season 3, Episode 1.  "Burning Down The House"  In much the same way that my favourite season of The Avengers is the last one (the one with unpopular cast changes) my favourite season of Due South is also the last one (the one with unpopular cast changes).  I love the Due South pilot.  I was living in Canada when it first aired and I remember being very excited and moved by it when it first aired.  As the weeks wore on I liked the show less and less.  I never warmed to David Marciano in this or in anything else.  Eventually I stopped watching.  When the show re-started in 1997 with Callum Keith Rennie I tried the first few episodes and totally fell in love with show.  Not just for Rennie (although he is the best thing in the show) I also think the show has found it's feet completely by this time and is comfortable with some very extreme fantasy storylines and elements (Fraser's ghostly father being the most obvious example).

Written by series star (the wonderful Paul Gross) this episode is - for me - one of the weakest in the season.  The central conceit (that nobody will stop and tell Fraser what is going on) bugs me.  I don't buy it.  But, in all other respects, the episode works a treat.  Gross is hilarious and heroic in equal measure.  Rennie feels like he's always been there, and the support cast are great too.

Highlight? Rescue 77

07:30    Raising The Bar
08:30    Do Not Disturb
09:00    Leverage
10:30    Jesse Stone
12:30    NCIS

Raising The Bar.  Pilot.  Above-average legal drama.  The story was pretty good, and the acting from Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Jane Kaczmarek was very good.

Do Not Disturb.  Pilot.  Below-average multi-camera sitcom.  Niecy Nash made me laugh a few times, but Jerry O'Connell was trying way too hard and I can't imagine it being a place I want to go back to on a weekly basis.

Leverage.  Pilot.  Average caper comedy-drama, with good performances from Aldis Hodge and Gina Bellman.  Some of the twists could be seen a mile off, but the show still managed a sense of fun.  So, who knows, I might watch more.

Jesse Stone.  Episode 3.  "Death in Paradise"  This time out we don't get to know who the killer is for the whole movie.  But, in all other respects, this is the same as the previous outings: a great central performance and a superb sense of mood and place.  Any show which puts Tom Selleck and William Devane in the same room is alright by me.  Storywise this is nothing you haven't seen before:a cop haunted by the death of a little girl goes to extremes to track her killer, but the performances, the setting and the character of the cop make it something really special.  I also have to say that the shoot-out at the end was one of the coolest things I have ever seen.  Jesse Stone is badass cool.

NCIS.  Season 4, Episode 21.  "Brothers In Arms"  The kind responses to my recent Supernatural reviews in the TV Guide Community have got me thinking about what I get from various other shows, too.  For me, NCIS is all about the group dynamic and the bond between these people.  And this is a great episode to provoke thought on that: it's the one where Jenny goes overboard in an effort to catch that French bad guy she's been after all season.

The story starts off with Jenny nearly getting herself killed.  This is followed by a Jenny-Gibbs private conversation.  Nothing unusual about that.  They often talk in private.  They are superior to everyone else and they have a shared history.  Their scenes together are frequent.

The episode also gives Tony and Jenny some alone time.  This always fascinates me.  These meetings are rare and in-secret.  We know she trusts him from the time that Gibbs was away and we know that she has given him secret assignments.  Unlike the Jenny-Gibbs bond, this is a friendship that nobody really knows about.  It was revealed in one episode, yes, but - apart from that - it is still very much clandestine.  And much more interesting because of it.

The biggest surprise for me, however, was when Ducky went to see Jenny and began to speak his mind about the case.  This never happens.  Utterly fascinating.  Then it is revealed that Gibbs put him up to it.  Suddenly it makes a lot more sense, and it nicely underscores the bond that exists between these two men.  A bond which was - briefly - fractured early in the season.  Something else I watched with great interest.

The episode is full of other little relationship/bonding moments.  Tony has a stressful meeting with his girlfriend's mother and when it is all over there is a quick line of dialogue telling us that McGee knew about it.  Quite a change-of-pace in the normal dynamic of their friendship.  I love to think of Tony maturing enough to talk about stuff like this with McGee.

When I was a teenager there was a very attractive, very funny older girl at my school.  Because we were both involved in debates and plays and so on, our paths frequently crossed.  I was always confident and funny so I had no problem flirting with her and making her laugh and keeping things on a superficial level.  I never thought much about it until the day we were both on the bus together heading to some school event or other.  And I realised I knew nothing about her!  I knew she had a brother, and I had a vague idea of where she lived, but I didn't know any of the important stuff.  So that was the day I learned to stop "impressing" her and starting talking to her.  All told, it was a great day.  And very much part of the maturing process teenage boys have to go through.

Good fiction holds a mirror up and allows us to see ourselves.  Even fantasy like NCIS has to have depth, and meaning, or it will fail to connect with us.

NCIS has depth.  And it always connects.

So, what else did I like?

Well, Gibbs seems to smile more in this episode than he ever has.  He seems extra friendly (for once) even as Jenny becomes more and more deranged.  Nice switch.

And, in terms of group dynamics, I love the scene where Abby sends for Tony to come alone when she has an embarrasing problem to deal with.  And Tony brings everyone.  And then they all huddle around and figure out a (typically childish) way to proceed.  Funny.  But also very revealing.  We learn so so much about these people from this little bit of comedy.

I watch NCIS for the laughs and the palatable crime/adventure yarns.  But I also watch to see the friendships evolve and develop.  I love these people.  If I ever write an NCIS script, I'll end it with a giant sleep-over where they all stay at Gibbs' house.  (And he stays awake a little longer than necessary to stand guard over them all.)

Highlight?  Jesse Stone

06:30    Perfect Strangers
07:00    My Boys
07:30    30 Rock
08:00    Standoff
09:00    In Plain Sight

Perfect Strangers.  Episode 2.  "Picture This" contains several classic sequences.  Larry teaches Balki to say "No" to people (because he feels that people are taking advantage of the innocent foreigner).  This immediately blows up in his face when Balki refuses to do him a favour.  Later, there is a fantastic sequence where the boys are not speaking to one another followed by Larry offering up an eloborate Myposian apology (minus the chicken!).  Finally they have a squabble in a crowded restaurant while Larry is trying to get a photo of a celebrity to sell to a sleazy paper.  The joy of Perfect Strangers is that the comedy is genius-level slapstick and the chemistry of the two stars is such that the bit-at-the-end-where-Larry-learns-a-lesson-of-some-type always comes across as genuine and very effecting.

My Boys.  Season 2, Episode 2.  "Dinner Party"  I never stopped laughing.  I think every line of dialogue is a joke, but I'll have to go back and watch it again to be sure.  Absolutely the funniest sit-com on TV.  I might not have stopped laughing, but I did have to stop the show a few times to rewind and go back on the stuff I'd missed.

30 Rock.  Season 2, Episode 15.  "Cooter"  While 30 Rock is not as funny as, say, My Boys it always manages to be the most inventive sit-com on the air.  It's a worthy successor to Arrested Development and nips closely behind shows like The Office and My Boys for title of funniest show on TV.  The second season may have started slowly (for me) but it soon picked up speed and never missed a step in it's final batch of episodes.  As funny as this episode was (and it was very funny) the thing I loved most was the way Liz and Jack reach out to one another despite being seperated by many miles and different jobs.  Tina Fey has managed to create a relationship that is almost as good as Mary and Lou on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.  And that's no bad thing.

Standoff.  Episode 14.  "Road Trip"  Generic hostage siege.  Mostly rather awful.  With characters from the Big Book of Bad TV Clichés and no important scenes between Matt and Emily this is a total waste of time.

In Plain Sight.  Episode 4.  "Trojan Horst" is a great title for a great episode.  It has Dave Foley, a great action-sequence and some top notch character-writing.  It was evident from the get-go that Mary is one of TV's best characters, but now we can see that Marshall Mann is just as good and their partnership is also worthy of being added to the TV Hall Of Fame.  Seeing the two of them, wounded and trapped, taking time out to analyse their friendship was a real treat.  I love the way Fred Weller delivers his lines, too.  He's such a perfect foil for Mary.  I've also been totally won over by Nichole Hiltz at stage.  She does some great work in this episode.  What a great show!

Highlight?  My Boys

05:30    The Middleman
06:30    Doctor Who
07:30    Kyle XY
08:30    Supernatural
01:00    Greg The Bunny

The Middleman.  Episode 1.  "The Pilot Episode Sanction" is a blast from start to finish.  It's easily the best pilot I'm seen this Summer so far and I can't wait to see more.  It's quirky, funny and full of references to everything I love: sixties TV, comics, movie icons.  A young woman (the gorgeous Natalie Morales) becomes sidekick to a mysterious superhero (Matt Keeslar) and helps him defeat a talking gorilla with designs on world domination (by killing mob leaders and leaving bananas at the murder scenes!).  Javier Grillo-Marxuach has had a hand in some of the very best TV shows of the past decade and this looks like a worthy addition to the list.

Doctor Who.  Season 28, Episode 8.  "The Impossible Planet" is pure Doctor Who.  The Doctor (and companion) arrive at a remote space station/space ship/outpost of some sort.  They meet lots of characters, something evil is at work and people start dying.  It's a classic Doctor Who set-up and this episode is a perfect execution of the idea.  With some truly huge ideas thrown in to blow you away: a planet that obits a black hole!?  What the frak?!

Kyle XY.  Season 2, Episode 8.  "What's the Frequency, Kyle?"  Kyle XY is one of the best written shows on TV, and it also has one of the best casts.  Bruce Thomas is normally overlooked by the scripts on this show, but he really gets a chance to shine in this one, when Stephen's father goes into a coma and dies leaving lots of things unsaid between the two men.  It's a very human story and (although the show uses Kyle's powers to offer some solace) I applaud the show for telling a sad story where nothing much gets resolved.  Stories like this are closer to real life and have much more impact than implausible death-bed reconcilliations.

Jaimie Alexander does her best work so far in this episode as Jessi starts to come to terms with her actions.  Specifically: her attack on Lori in the previous episode.  Jessi is in major turnoil for most of this episode and Alexander is pitch perfect.  The ending of this plotline was also quite sad.  What exactly is going to happen to Jessi?  Are they going to wipe her mind?  Which, effectively, kills the girl who has been on the show this season?  I hope not.  I hope she kicks ass, breaks free and starts to deal with her mistakes.

Finally, none of this would work if Matt Dallas wasn't so frakkin' great in the central role.  He brings such an innocence and wonder to the role of Kyle, and his voice-over narrations set the whole ponderous tone for the show.  I love the type of stories this show is able to tell.  Small family-driven tales wrapped up in a sci-fi envelope.  And the show tells then without creating false tension.  When Kyle starts to receive messages from the dying man, Stephen doesn't resist them. A lesser show might have created "conflict" by setting it up so that Kyle had to win Stephen over or something.  Thus wasting our time with something we've seen many times before.  Instead, the show concentrates on the wonder of what Kyle can do.  And it's all rather cool.  And makes for great stories.

Supernatural.  Season 2, Episode 2.  I have mixed feelings about "Everybody Loves A Clown".  Following the episodes with the father was always going to be difficult but I'm not sure that this was the way to go.  The case-of-the-week was average.  But, on this show, 'average' is really quite good.  Killer Clowns are an interesting idea, which crops up from time to time.  It works fine here, but I wonder if every kid would really invite a clown into their house in the middle of the night?  In this day and age?  Hmmm...

The character-work between the brother was top notch.  And the real joy of this episode was in watching the brothers closely to see how each was coping with the violent and sudden death of their father.  In this respect the show did not disappoint.  It never does.

No, what bugged me about this episode were the supporting characters.  Who appear (from this episode) to be a bunch of new regulars for the boys to work with on occasion.  This is exactly what the show does not need!  And all three of the new characters are straight from the Big Book of Bad TV Clichés: a cute girl, a nerd and a mother figure.  Yuck, yuck and double yuck!  Chad Lindberg is particularly annoying in his role as the computer geek.  Alona Tal is cute.  Way too cute for this show.  She's just wrong.  And while Samantha Ferris is very good in her role, I hated the character because it felt like the she was being offered up as quick replacement for the boys' father.  Not something I want to see.  In the episode after his death or in any future episode.

What the show needed here, I feel, was an episode where the boys are alone and devastated.  Where they find their way forward - together - by doing what they do.  Instead they have their newest case handed to them by Ellen.  And I lost interest.  The appearance of this sudden family unit takes away a lot of the lonliness of their situation.

Also, the world of Supernatural is uniquely male.  The undercurrent of the show has always been the love between brothers and the love between father and son(s).  Plus, the world of the hunters has always been shown to be a world of lonely solitary men, driven by a need to destroy evil.  Men with not much else in their lives.  Now, suddenly, we learn that they have a bar to go to and swap notes.  And there's a cute girl in the middle of all this, too.  No, thanks!  We've already had that show.  It's time to do a different take on this.  Hopefully, this pseudo-family won't be around for long...  I'm more tempted than ever to check spoilers/cast lists for future episodes to see where all of this is going, but I'm better off not knowing I suppose.

Greg The Bunny.  Episode 6.  "Rabbit Redux"  Wow.  This is one of the episodes I missed first time round.  Wow, again.  A great episode.  Funny, and with surprising depth.  Wow.  Who'd a thunk it?  Rochester returns.  The rabbit who was fired, thus giving Greg his big break on TV.  Rochester has fallen on hard times.  So Greg, feeling guilty, gets him back on the show.  Then Rochester has a heart attack and dies.  And the final half is about how everyone deals with it.  And it's really well-written.  Warren (so my favourite character at this stage) gives a great eulogy and I really feel like I've seen something rather great.  Wow.

Highlight?  The Middleman

09:30    Columbo
11:00    The Mary Tyler Moore Show
11:30    WKRP In Cincinnati
12:00    Rising Damp

Columbo.  Episode 8.  "Short Fuse" is one of my least favourite episodes.  Roddy McDowall is mis-cast as a killer.  At least on this show.  He's too likable.   He's also much too over the top in his acting style to go head to head with Peter Falk the way all the other guest stars do.  I also dislike the ending.  Yes, it is clever.  One of the cleverest that the show ever did, but Columbo is so out of character.  The appeal of the character is that he is meek and annoying.  And he quietly lures the killer's into his subtle traps.  No so here.  For some odd reason the writers have him running around shouting orders to get the bad guy into the trap.  Which is frustrating because there was no need.  There were many other (more suble ways) to get the characters into the same situation.  Disappointing execution of a clever idea.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show.  Episode 15.  "Howard's Girl" is an average episode which ignores the regulars and devotes far too much time to the guest stars.  It's a cute story, though.  Mary is dating a guy called Paul.  Eleven months earlier she had a date with his brother Howard and she finds out that the rest of the family still think of her as "Howard's Girl" and are somewhat surprised that she has no plans to marry Howard.  Amusing, not hilarious.  The episode does have one Lou Grant scene with which is very funny.  It's always good when the writers put Mary alone with Lou in his office.  He shouts, she gets nervous and says the wrong things.  Always funny.

WKRP In Cincinnati.  Episode 62.  "I Am Woman" is not only very funny, it's really something special.  The central character is Bailey (Jan Smithers: one of TV's all-time most-beautiful women) and she is leading a campaign to keep the building they work in from being torn down.  The other characters help/hinder her for various reasons but this is Bailey's story.  It's a very funny episode, it gives great insight into the character of Bailey (and many of the others) and it has a truly great speech from Bailey towards the end (about why she is fighting this cause).  I truly loved this episode in a million different ways for a million different reasons.

Rising Damp.  Episode 4.  "A Night Out"  The gang get dressed up and take Miss Jones out for her birthday.  As always, while the laughs flow freely, the undercurrent of lonliness and poverty is never far from the surface.  The dynamic between the characters is fully in place at that stage.  The boys may tease Rigsby and he is superficially mean to them, but they all get on very well.  It's obvious (by now) that Rigsby isn't a bad person, just a man who has experienced very little.  My favourite part of this episode comes in the last scene, when Rigsby and Alan are kicked out and decide to head off themselves for a bag of chips.

Highlight?  WKRP In Cincinnati

06:30    McMillan And Wife
08:00    The Name Of The Game

McMillan And Wife.  Episode 3.  "The Easy Sunday Murder Case" is the first episode where it feels like the comedy is padding, being used to extend a slim story out to movie-length proportions.  Sally's mother's best friend has her dog kidnapped.  The fact that her husband was also taken is of no real concern to her!  It's a funny idea and there are some laughs to be had, but after a while I tired of seeing Mac and Sally get in and out of their car over and over (He isn't supposed to drive, but keeps forgetting).  It's average stuff, it lacks the polish of the Columbo episodes being produced at the same time and it would have been a much better story at half the length.

The Name Of The Game.  Season 1, Episode 5.  "Nightmare" is an ordinary crime drama, telling how Dan Farrell tracks down the men who shot and killed his wife five years earlier.  The only real highlights are the performance of Robert Stack (the expression 'steel jawed determination' was probably created with him in mind!) and two great scenes.  Mid-way through the story one of bad guys meets Farrell's young daughter as she plays on a swing.  The evil of the man and the innocence of the girl are contrasted.  He shows her his gun, and they talk about it.  She is full of questions.  Then, when asked to show how it works, he casually points it at her chest and pulls the trigger.  The gun turns out to be a toy but the scene is truly chilling.  Later on, the story concludes with a great scene between Stack and guest star Martin Balsam which is worth watching over and over.  Farrell has chased these men for years and he finally has them.  But he doesn't want them dead.  The final line of the movie "Why would I want you dead?" is a wonderful piece of character development and does more to distinguish Dan Farrell as a TV Hero than anything else that happened in the story up to that.  Great stuff.

Highlight?  The Name Of The Game

06:00    Riptide
08:00    Samantha Who?
08:30    In Plain Sight
09:30    Back To You
10:30    Keen Eddie
12:00    Joey

Riptide.  Episode 3.  "Somebody's Killing the Great Geeks of America"  Good performances from Joe Penny and guest star Cindy Pickett are the highlight of this episode.  A woman hires the guys when a hit-man targets her for some reason.  It turns out she went to high school with Nick, they were friends back then but she hates him now and he can't figure out why.  Riptide is the perfect show for this sort of story.  These private eyes get beaten up, their helicopter won't start, their car breaks down during chases and - while Boz does all the computer work - the other two do very little except buy donuts and hang around (a very funny scene).  Giving lots of scope for biting comments from Pickett's character.

Samantha Who?  Episode 15.  "The Birthday" ends the first season with Sam's birthday party.  No crazy plots this time out, just a nice character-driven tale about Todd's inability to be out of a relationship for any length.  So, it turns out that Sam is not the only one that needs to change...  That's a nice way to end the season: seeing how the 'new' Sam is having an impact on her circle of friends (echoed in the fact that her mum and best friend have a civilised chat for the first time, and the doorman drops by at her party).

In Plain Sight.  Episode 3.  "Never the Bride"  As usual, this week's script is just clever enough to make it something special.  Mary's case involves somebody she doesn't like.  Somebody that she feels doesn't deserve the fresh start of the Witness Protection Programme.  She gives them a wonderful speech at the start of the episode and (much to her surprise, and ours) she finds (by the end of the episode) that they have taken her advice to heart and are able - in fact - to give that same advice back to her.  It's a nice episode.  In lots of ways.  And I'm starting to like the sister now.  The scene where she helped Mary get dressed up was good.  More sister-bonding, less fighting, would be nice.

Back To You.  Episode 12.  "Two Steps Forward, One Step Back"  It's a bit late in the day, but Back To You manages to deliver a good episode.  I still think changing the focus of the show completely over to Chuck's reunion with his daughter was a mistake but this is a funny episode.  It takes place on the night that Chuck and Kelly finally tell their daughter the truth.  She takes it badly.  And while they deal with this, we get to see flashbacks to the night they slept together (possibly as a means to get the rest of the cast into the episode?).  There are plenty of gags and the ending is good, where is looks as if Chuck has run off (again) but he's actually managed to find a way to put things right.  Good stuff.

Keen Eddie.  Episode 2.  "Horse Heir"  As much as I love the pilot (and I loved it the first time I saw it) it is really only with Episode 2 that you are getting the full effect of the Keen Eddie TV series.  There is nothing else on TV that looks or sounds like this show.  Fast cuts, rewinds, zooms and everything else they can throw at you keep the visuals interesting.  This episode has some Matrix-style fights!  The soundtrack is wonderful, too, and perfectly chosen for the scenes.  I watch Keen Eddie on my own DVR's because the DVD release removed all the original music.  Crazy!

This episode is better than the pilot because there is no set-up and the formula is fully in place.  There is a case to be solved (a stolen horse), there are lots of odd suspects (two warring pub landlords, for instance, who have to be seen to be believed) and there is a full-on war in progress between Eddie and his gorgeous flatmate (Sienna Miller).  This is also the first episode where Eddie mishears Miss Moneypenny.  (A running gag on the show involves Eddie hearing sexual comments from his bosses secretary that nobody else can hear.)  Awesome.

Joey.  Season 2, Episode 19.  "Joey and the Critic"  I would love to ask the Joey writers why they let the character of Jimmy dominate the show so much in Season Two.  His constant shouting is enough to ruin many episodes for me.  Not this one, thankfully.  Jimmy is still central to the story (he becomes Joey's manager) but he tones down his more violent instincts and the result is an okay episode.

Highlight?  Keen Eddie

07:00    The Greatest American Hero
08:00    Greek
09:00    Scrubs
10:00    The Hardy Boys

The Greatest American Hero.  Episode 4.  "Saturday On Sunset Boulevard"  The relationship between Ralph and Bill is not the only reason for loving this series.  It also has a lot of very inventive stories.  And this is one of those.  It starts off by showing us a Russan Defector and his wife on the run from both the FBI and the Russians.  Meanwhile Bill Maxwell (in an effort to cover up the existence of the Super Suit) has flunked a Lie Detector Test and been (temporarily) booted out of the FBI until he comes clean about whatever secret he is hiding.  Not deterred in the slightest, Bill ambushes Ralph and Pam on a romantic evening out and gets Ralph to break into FBI HQ and find out what's the biggest case on the books at the moment.  His plan?  Solve that case and ask the FBI to forget his Lie Detector Test.  Which is what leads Bill, Ralph, Pam and Ralph's students to the couple on the run.

This is a great way to get our heroes into the story, and it's also a great way to involve Ralph's students in a way that makes sense.  For once, all of the students are well written and interesting and

Greek.  Episode 16.  "Move On. Cartwrights"  Hilarious.  Rusty goes somewhat overboard when he meets a new girl, while Dale meets a girl who does exactly the same thing to him.  Casey and Evan meet up and fight a few times and he finally starts to come to his senses, but is it too late?  I honestly don't know whether to like Evan or not.  Sometimes he seems pretty decent.  Other times... not so much.  Then there's Frannie... I don't know what to make of her.  Great work from Tiffany Dupont.

Bottom line: Laugh-out-loud funny show, with great character-driven stories.

Scrubs.  Season 7, Episode 4.  "My Identity Crisis"  Identity is at the core of this story.  Carla's feels that she is losing hers, Cox isn't who he used to be and JD - finally - learns everyone's real names.  Again, the subtext here is that JD is growing up.

The Hardy Boys.  Season 3, Episode 8.  "Defection to Paradise, Part Two"  It ends with the most boring sea rescue every filmed in the history of televison, but - otherwise - this is a fine ending to the story started the previous week.  Pamela Franklin is great as the Russian girl on the run, very sympathetic and vulnerable, but the acting honours go to Nehemiah Persoff for a great performance as the bad guy on her tail. It turns out that he's every bit as complex a man as it first appeared.  His conversations with the Hardy's boss are like something from a John Le Carré novel: Dignified espionage with a undercurrent of threat.  It is with his help, more than anyone else's, that Joe and Frank are able to get the girl out of harm's way.  Definitely one of the best scripts ever used on the show.  Not just for writing Joe and Frank as resourceful agents, but for a sophisticated take on the world of cold war politics.

Highlight? Greek.

06:30    True Blood
07:30    NCIS
08:30    Jesse Stone

True Blood.  Pilot.  Anna Paquin running around in a white t-shirt and shorts is no bad thing, but there are too many bland characters in this pilot to worry too much about what happens to any of them.  Everyone seems sex-obsessed, Anna Paquin can read minds and... vampires are just another minority group.  Whatever.

NCIS.  Season 4, Episode 20.  "Cover Story"  I like McGee and it's great to see him take centre-stage but the premise for this episode is too goofy for me.  Someone is killing people based on what they read in a book that McGee wrote!!  Seriously?  Nope, don't buy it.  The interplay between the regulars is great (as usual) but the story is rubbish.

Jesse Stone.  Episode 2.  "Night Passage" is even better than the first movie.  The story is less OTT and there is much more character development.  Jesse is fascinating.  So messed up, yet so noble.  When he does something cool, it is seriously cool but most of the time he's just in pain.  They have captured a unique kind of lonliness with this character.  The best detective series on television.

Highlight? Jesse Stone

06:30    Perfect Strangers
07:00    My Boys
07:30    30 Rock
08:00    Battlestar Galactica
09:00    Battlestar Galactica
10:00    Greg The Bunny
10:30    Fringe

Perfect Strangers.  Episode 1.  "Knock Knock, Who's There?"  This is as good as any episode of Perfect Strangers.  Which is amazing when you consider how polished the comedy is on this show.  And how vital the chemisty is.  Bronson Pinchot and Mark Linn-Baker are perfectly at home in their roles from the get-go.

My Boys.  Season 2, Episode 1.  "The Transitioning" makes a great start to Season Two.  The cliffhanger is resolved and we discover that PJ choose Bobby.  I was delighted about this, but disappointed that (once they got to Italy) nothing much happened.  We have been waiting a long time for this, and this is all we get?  Jordana Spiro was hilarious in all these scenes (and seems to have gotten even more cute and adorable over the hiatus) but it was - I felt - a lame way to resolve the storyline.  Never mind, the rest of the episode is fantastic.  Jim Gaffigan steals every scene as the rest of the rest of the gang try to cope without PJ.

30 Rock.  Season 2, Episode 14.  "Sandwich Day" is an example of the show at it's most surreal and hilarious.  Jenna in a crazy drinking contest to win mysterious sandwiches from a secret location in Brooklyn, Jack demoted to an odd place straight from The Twilight Zone and Liz being shown in two vastly different lights: truly beautiful in one scene (the hilarious red dress and wind machine combo) and truly horrific in the next scene (flinging tables aside and threathen to wound her staff with sharp objects).  Can it be the same character?  Can it even be the same actress?  Tina Fey is truly gifted.  If I thought she was anything like Liz Lemon in real life, I'd stalk her and ask her to marry me!!

Battlestar Galactica.  Season 4, Episode 9.  "The Hub"  Finally we get to see what happened when the Cylon Ship jumped away.  What happened?  Well... space battles, visions, hints and epiphanies.  The usual stuff for Battlestar Galactica.

Visually, this is an impressive episode.  Not just the space stuff either (which was nothing short of majestic) but all of the interior stuff too.  And the visions Laura was having during the jumps.  Lots of low wide shots and big empty rooms and corridors.  Very striking.

As wonderful as that final minute was (and it was wonderful) it has to take second place to the "revelation" that Laura is the final cylon.  That was frakkin' funny.  Deanna playing with the president, and the show love playing with us.  Ballsy.  And I love it.

Battlestar Galactica.  Season 4, Episode 10.  "Revelations "  Truly satisfying conclusion to many of this seasons ongoing plot threads.  Finally, after weeks of (wonderful) torture the hidden Cylons are revealed to their friends in a sequence of wonderfully orchestrated scenes.  Seeing Saul Tigh tell Bill Adama was just amazing.  And watching Bill's meltdown was painful.  The whole episode (every revelation, every confrontation) was equal parts amazing and equal parts painful.  Baltar was funny again (the "I knew it!" bit) and Lee finally grew a pair!  Who would have thought?!

In this episode, you can see the show preparing to finish all it's ongoing storylines, wisely choosing (in the final shocking seconds) to avoid introducing any major new ones.  It has also left enough mysteries dangling to bring fans back in 2009.

Greg The Bunny.  Episode 5.  "Piddler on the Roof" is a middle-of-the-road episode.  Not hilarious, but not awful either.  Warren (the show's best character) takes a leak inside Alison's car!  The sub-plot (about Alison's feelings being hurt) is a real yawner, but there are few good laughs to found elsewhere.

Fringe.  "Pilot"  Imagine if Sydney Bristow was lead investigator on The X-Files, forced to work with Lost's Sawyer to get help from his genius father (Part Gil Grissom and part Frankenstein) and you have some idea of what to expect here.  The first half-hour was slow enough.  It felt like an average X-Files episode and I was bored by the relationships.  The heroine has a loving boyfriend (but she can't say "I Love You" back to him) and a boss who hates her (for putting his best friend in jail).  Nothing here that hasn't been seen before.  However, once Joshua Jackson shows up it really starts to take off.  The final hour is the best: some exciting action scenes and the first hint of the show's backstory.  Can't wait to see more!

Highlight?  Battlestar Galactica

04:00    Columbo
05:30    The Name Of The Game
03:00    The Mary Tyler Moore Show
03:30    WKRP In Cincinnati
04:00    Rising Damp

Columbo.  Episode 7.  "Lady in Waiting"  There are many things to admire in this series.  First, there is the quality of the guest stars.  Not just the murderers who go head-to-head with Peter Falk in every story, but also the victims and peripheral characters who appear.  For instance, this episode features Richard Anderson and Leslie Nielsen in strong supporting roles.  Nielsen is particularly good.

Second, there is the music.  Columbo episodes have no opening theme, and use a different closing theme for each story.  Back in 1980 I assembled about 35 of these themes on an audio cassette and listened to it many, many times in the years that followed.  So much so that these Columbo themes are as familiar to me now as the themes to Hawaii Five-0, Magnum, PI or Law And Order.  The scores for each episode tend to use the closing theme (and variations of it) in a lot of scenes and the music is usually beautiful and evocative.

Next, there are many Columbo episodes with a uniquie visual gimmick at some stage.  Some scenes enlist split-screen, freeze-frame or blurred images to help tell the story.  Sometimes the visuals incorporate sun-glasses or chess pieces in inventive fashion.  In other episodes, the producers play around with the audio.  On all fronts the show is creative.

Finally, I always admire the amount of variety the producers/writers work into a very rigid formula.  This episode, for instance, features Susan Clark as the killer and we witness her elaborage plan acted out in a long fantasy sequence.  We are shown how all the pieces will (hopefully) fall into place and she will get away with her crime.  Then, when she actually puts her plan into action, we see how things go wrong for her (in one respect) and she has to scramble like crazy to keep it all on track.  It makes for a very exciting first half-hour.

This is one of the best Columbo stories.  The criminal is sympathetic.  She has been protected by her brother to such an extreme extent that she has basically been bullied into submission and it is fascinating for us to see the transformation that comes over her when he is out of her life.  Fascinating for us and (unfortunately for her) very revealing for Lt. Columbo.

The Name Of The Game.  Season 1, Episode 1.  "Fear Of High Places"  The first regular episode of the TV series (based on the movie which had appeared two years earlier) again stars Tony Franciosa as superagressive investigative correspondent Jeff Dillon.  When I was a kid I thought Franciosa was the coolest of the cool and watching this it is easy to see why.  He owns the screen when he is on it.  Particularly when he puts on his biggest smile and asks the hardest of hard questions.

It's a sophisticated and enjoyable movie.  The middle half-hour meanders a bit too much to maintain interest, but the opening third is strong and the final thirty minutes are the best.  The story starts when Dillon attends a press conference where a high level business tycoon denies that he is about to take over a position of power within the government.  Dillon gives him a hard time over this and - afterwards - is approached by a young woman who claims to have had an affair with the tycoon.  Dillon has misgivings about running the story, but he agrees to meet with the girl.  She later turns up dead, sending Dillon on a investigation that will uncover an elaborate espionage plot.

Franciosa is fantastic, and so is Susan Saint James as his researcher, Peggy Maxwell (the only character to appear in all episodes).  She's funny, but the two of them lack the sort of chemistry required to make us believe that there is a sexual tension between them.  Something the script wants us to believe.  Franciosa's scenes with Gene Barry also lack the sort of comeraderie that the writers wish to convey.  Barry seems strangely out of place.  But none of that is important.  What matters, on this show, is the story.

After all the meandering and the (rather good) action finale, the story comes to a close with a fantastic showdown between Dillon and the tycoon's wife.  He could blow the whole story wide open and destroy the man's credibility.  Yet, despite his infidelity, his wife pleads for him to be left alone.  It's an eloquent debate and Dillon's decision (in the final seconds of the movie) makes for a great ending to a good first episode.

Forty years later Tony Franciosa is still the coolest of the cool.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show.  Episode 14.  "He's All Yours" is one of the weaker episodes.  Mary has to deal with mild sexual harassment from an inept younger man, who also has a go at Rhoda and then spreads rumours about Mary at their workplace.  It's all slightly uncomfortable and lacking in laughs.  Lou Grant is great however.  First he drops Mary right in it by telling her to take the young man under her wing, but he saves her at the end in very heroic (and typically gruff) fashion.  But, all told, not a great episode.

WKRP In Cincinnati.  Episode 61.  "Ask Jennifer" is a classic.  The first half details Herb's unsuccessful attempts to find a DJ for an afternoon advice show.  The second half shows what happens when receptionist Jennifer steps in to do the job and is a roaring success.  WKRP always gets praise for writing the "pretty blonde" as the smartest one on staff.  But I also love the fact that all the other characters awknowledge this and respect her enormously.  Male and female alike, everyone admits that Jennifer is the cleverest one in the room.  This episode highlights this character trait and - using nothing but her own common sense - she becomes a city-wide hit as she dispenses advive left, right and centre with a witty quip.  Loni Anderson has never been better in the role, perfectly capturing Jennifer's joy at at the microphone.  And Loni Anderson really comes into her own when it all turns sour.  One caller, acting on previous advice, is beaten up by her husband.  As she tells her tale, and the camera gently zooms in on Anderson's face, the horror and guilt are perfectly displayed.  It's a wonderful performance and a wonderful script.

Rising Damp.  Episode 3.  "Charisma" contains one of my all-time favourite funny moments.  Ever.  Phillip has told Rigsby that one sure way to win Miss Jones' heart is to "burn love wood".  He then breaks off a piece of the wardrobe and gives it to Rigsby to use.  Not knowing what it is the landlord sets it alight and approaches the object of his affections - a clearly bewildered Miss Jones - waving the smoking stick around like a mad-man.  It cracks me up every time I see it.  Classic comedy.  Wonderful.

Highlight?  The Name Of The Game.

11:00    Greg The Bunny
11:30    Joey

Greg The Bunny.  Episode 4.  "SK-2.0"  What a schizophrenic show!  This episode kinda sucked.  It was all about revamping the television show that the regulars work on.  The revamp was extreme and none of them liked it.  But, I'm not sure what exactly was supposed to be funny.  Maybe we were supposed to be amused because the revamped version of their show looked so different, but - in fact - it actually looked like kids show's I've seen.  Maybe that was the point.  I don't know.  Thing is, I wouldn't be wondering about this kind of stuff if there were actual gags to make me laugh.

I also hated the b-plot.  Where Jimmy and his dad "learned a lesson" and bonded a bit at the end.  What the frak?!  Did FOX make the producers do episodes like this, or were the writers deliberately using lame plots to make us laugh.  I don't know.  I know I didn't laugh.

Joey.  Season 2, Episode 18.  "Joey and the Beard"  There was still too much shouting from Gina's dumb boyfriend but this wasn't a bad episode.  Joey 'dated' an actress who did not want the press to know she was gay.  At first he didn't understand (which was funny) and when he did understand, they became good friends (which was sweet).  This is the perfect sort of story to develop the character of Joey.  We like him, and we care about him.  Yet, time and time again they kept returning to Gina's moronic shouting boyfriend who we don't like and don't care about.  Sheesh!

Highlight?  Joey

08:30    The Greatest American Hero
09:30    Flight Of The Conchords
10:00    Greek
11:00    Scrubs
11:30    The Hardy Boys

The Greatest American Hero.  Episode 3.  "Here's Looking at You Kid"  Much better than the previous episode, even though it follows the same template: it opens by showing the bad guys (stealing a plane), switches to Ralph trying to get his students excited about a project (student elections) and only really comes to life when Bill Maxwell shows up.

Bill forces Ralph into joining him for the evening to find the missing plane which means he has to skip out on meeting his girlfriend's parents for the first time.  Along the way, Ralph accidently learns how to turn himself invisible.  The episode switches between Ralph and Pam for the whole evening.  The scenes with Pam and her parents are funny and (as she is forced to defend Ralph to her father) give us a good insight into Pam and her relationship with Ralph.  Many Stephen J. Cannell shows had a female regular that (a) the writers couldn't use, and (b) was written out.  Not so here.  Pam is an integral part of the team/show.  Even when she is not with the guys, she gets equal screen time.  And so it should be.  I love Pam and the voice of reason she brings to the show/team.

But the meat and potatoes of this show is the relationship between Ralph and Bill.  The episode stops (for about two boring minutes) to show us (yet again) that Ralph can't fly very well and tends to crash into things a lot.  But - after that - the episodes is flawless fun.  Ralph and Bill are high on the list of Television's Greatest Partnerships.  They are polar opposites in every way and the show (brilliantly) ties them together over the use of the 'Super Suit'.  Watching them interact (and eventually become close friends) is the greatest joy of this show.  And this episode, where they go up against a house full of mercenaries, is a fine example of how much fun the show is.

Flight Of The Conchords.  Episode 12.  "The Third Conchord"  Brilliant ending to a brilliant first season.  The real genius of this show is the way it managed to wring so much comedy from two basic plots:  Someone leaves the band, or someone has a girlfriend.  These two elements are at the core of nearly every story from this first season, which makes sense given the character's general ennui.  These guys kinda amble through life, not really trying very hard about anything.  (Except, of course, in the majestic musical sequences where they come alive.)  In this wonderful outing, there is more band disharmony (but this time for a novel new reason) and several stand-out i-want-to-rewind-and-watch-that-again scenes.

Greek.  Episode 15.  "Freshman Daze"  If you haven't seen Greek, you need to know two things: it is very funny and it's a superb character-drama.  This is, by far, it's finest episode so far.  Most of the episode is taken up with flashbacks, which show us that everything was different two years ago.

Greek is about college life and the stories are driven by the romances and friendships of the core characters.  In this episode we see how different that landscape (of loves and friends) used to be.  Greek is one of those shows that uses an extreme environment of some kind to examine commonplace themes.  Shows like Star Trek, Supernatural and Wiseguy have done this in the past.  Star Trek set it's stories in outer space and was then able to write about issues that could have appeared taboo in a modern setting.  Wiseguy was a very profound and affecting drama about the nature of truth, honesty, friendship, loyalty.  Themes that could be mawkish in some settings, but worked perfectly in the world of the mafia and undercover cops.  Supernatural is basically about the love between two brothers. The brothers fight ghost and demons and such, and the writers then have free rein to write full-on scenes of brotherly love, etc.

There have been a lot of teen soaps, some very good, and they have all dealt with the same themes as Greek.  But Greek is cleverer.  By making the show specifically about pledges, sisterhood, sororiety life and so forth the writers are able to make all of these themes take center stage without seeming obvious and false.

The rituals of sisterhood (and all that bitching jazz that goes with it in this show) are as alien to me as anything I saw on Star Trek, Supernatural or Wiseguy but the core feelings of these characters are very real.  I was really on the edge of my seat wondering whether Casey would speak to Frannie or not.  And, what's even better, I'm fearful she may have made the wrong decision.  I hope not.

Scrubs.  Season 7, Episode 3.  "My Inconvenient Truth"  Like Flight Of The Conchords, Scrubs is driven by a limited plot: JD needs to grow up.  And, from this episode onwards, he might actually manage to do that.  Not that I mind.  I never tire of JD and his silly ways, and would happily see him behave like that for many more seasons.  Having said that, some of the best years of other shows (Magnum, Beverly Hills 90210) came about late in the run when the characters started to change and mature.  So, for Scrubs, the best is possibly ahead.

The Hardy Boys.  Season 3, Episode 7.  "Defection to Paradise"  When I watch this third season of The Hardy Boys I am amazed at how good it is.  Bloody brilliant, in fact.  Easily the best season.  The only real problem is: it's very different to the show it was, and the sense of fun and innocence is completely removed.  The Hardy Boys have grown up.  Particularly Joe, who is a very different character since the opening two-parter.  He's now a much more aggressive investigator, very clever and very driven.  Quite the action man is our Joe.  He takes the lead totally in this rather superb story.  This probably has a lot to do with Shaun Cassidy's successful music career away from the show.

Ironically, since it is a third season tale, this is much more like the early seasons (minus the fun and innocence) in many ways.  Joe and Frank are working in Hawaii trying to find missing band equipment, and thus prevent an international incident with Russia.  So, since we have no murders or plots at the start, it could well pass for a season one episode.  Also, much like the show's original template, the boys discover that they have been lied to by everybody and gradually realise that something else is happening.

That something else is a defection.  A defection that has gone wrong and left a young woman alone and on the run.  Not sure of who to trust.  US Government agents are after her but, as Joe points out, they are more concerned with the secrets in her head rather than her safety or well-being.  There is also a KGB team on her trail.  We learn that they have orders to kill her, if necessary, but the team leader has no great desire to do that.  He will kill her, but he feels a great empathy for her.  This kind of character shading (given to all the characters) makes the story many times more enjoyable.

We really do feel for the girl, as she hides out and watches Americans having fun, as she looks for a way to contact Russian and get back home.  In one great scene she steals money from a guy, who catches her but shows nothing but compassion.  In little ways like that, and many more, it is a very satisfying script.  And it portrays Joe as a clever and resourceful young agent who, backed by his brother, is well capable of cutting through diplomatic BS when he has to.

It's a pity fans stopped watching: 'New' Hardy Boys was a great show.

Highlight? Greek.

10:00    Acapulco HEAT
10:50    The Hardy Boys Mysteries
11:40    Superman

Acapulco HEAT.  Episode 3.  A so-so adventure for the spy-team masquerding as models (think Baywatch done as a spy-series).  Assigned to protect a war-hero, the leader of the team is a bit suspicious when the man in question seems to have forgotten several details of his own past.  Then the man's wife is murdered, and the HEAT team are baffled.  Veteran TV viewers like myself are ahead of the game on this one, we've figured out that the guy has been programmed by the enemy and has now turned a mindless killer willing - even - to send his own wife plummeting to her death.  The pace is fast, there's a few good action scenes, but this is not the best of the run.  It's directed by Sidney Hayers, however, one of the great TV directors, and regular cast are 100% committed to the material which makes it very watchable.

The Hardy Boys Mysteries.  Season 2, Episode 21.  Not only is this the goofiest story idea they ever used on Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew, it's one of the goofiest ideas ever used in any TV series.  Ever.  Yes, I'm serious.  This is even worse than Jack Bauer's daughter and the cougar.  I swear.  Even as a kid I hated seeing this episode pop up in re-runs, because it made no sense.

The first third of the episode informs us that Nancy Drew - famed girl detective - has been missing for six months.  Frank & Joe are seen meeting with her dad, getting details of her kidnapping (as if for the first time) and then doing a bit of very rudimentary detective work that leads them pretty close to Nancy's whereabouts on the first try.  One of the biggest clues comes from Nancy's own notebook, which apparently hasn't been opened by anyone in the six months since it was found at the scene of her kidnapping.

Anyway, at this point the story shifts gears.  Substantially.  We meet Nancy for the first time in the episode.  Resourceful Nancy Drew - famed girl detective - is being held captive in a penthouse.  By a feeble old man.  She's been there for six months.  With this deluded old man, who has forced her to dress exactly like an ex-lover of his from 40 years previous.  He's even done Nancy's hair up in the way his lover wore.  And it looks great.  Spectacular, in fact.  Very considerate of him.  And, indeed, of Nancy to sit there and let him do it.

For the final third of the episode, we meet a cute lady arsonist (mentioned earlier in a line of dialogue from a minor character).  For no reason that is immediately apparent she sets about burning down the same building where Nancy is being held, just as Frank & Joe arrive at the building to rescue Nancy!  This leads to lots of action-adventure stuff as Frank & Joe roam the building, set to rousing music, rescuing various new characters.  Frank eventually makes his way to the penthouse and uses an elevator to casually walk into the same room that Nancy Drew - famed girl detective - has been totally unable to escape from, for six months.

Maybe Nancy has the same lethargic attitude to things that the Hardy Boys have.  After all, it took them six months to start searching for her, why can't we believe that Nancy just couldn't be bothered taking the elevator to the lobby?

Anyway, when everyone is outside.  The cute lady arsonist casually confesses her crime to Joe.  Out of the blue.  For no reason.  Perhaps she was likewise lethargic about carrying on with the whole arsonist thing?  It's catching, you know.

Superman.  Season 2, Episode 15.  While nowhere near as good as the Batman series of the 90s, the Superman series certainly had it's moments.  And this is one of them.  Clark's parents are in town.  So is the illegitimate son of Darkseid, an alien menace introduced at the end of Season 1.  Darkseid's son has gone against his father's wishes (in an effort to win his father's affection/recognition) and come to Earth to kill Superman.  He's not up to the task, but he is strong and we get a very entertaining battle sequence, set to rousing music, which endangers Clark's dad.  Darkseid shows up at the end, snatches his beaten son away, meets Superman face-to-face for the first time, utters a chilling threat and vanishes.  Leaving a confused Superman writhing in pain.  From start to finsh, each scene is both cool and interesting, all the characters get something to do, and you get a sense that this is all part of a much larger story.  Can't wait.

Highlight?  Superman.

08:00    Kung Fu
09:00    Burn Notice
10:00    Friday Night Lights
11:00    Scrubs

Kung Fu.  Episode 8.  Kwai Chang Caine meets a group of Chinese miners who are fighting with a man who claims their mountain.  Murder follows murder, with Caine becoming a sea of calm in the sea of retaliation.  Richard Hatch plays the son of the landownder. there's a slo-mo fight at the end and lots of dialogue to make you ponder:  "In a heart that is one with nature though the body contends, there is no violence. And in the heart that is not one with nature, though the body be at rest, there is always violence."

Burn Notice.  Episode 10.  Where I read that Lucy Lawless was doing a Burn Notice I assumed she's be playing some tough spy-gal going head-to-head with Michael Westin.  Imagine my surprise when she turns up, playing the victim of the piece.  Her son has been stolen and - all teary-eyed - she's turning to Michael to get him back.  Of course, all is not what it seems, Lucy Lawless is still Lucy Lawless no matter what part she plays and - before too long - Michael is starting to fall under her considerable charms, much to the annoyance of Fiona.

This is an important episode for Burn Notice.  In many ways, it deviates from the forumla we've come to know over the past few weeks, it shows us a completely different side to Michael Westin (the case parallels his own childhood and it gets under his skin) and it brings the show's first bone fide Big Name Guest Star into the fold.  Nice.

Friday Night Lights.  Episode 13.  Does anyone else rewind and rewatch the scenes between the Coach and his wife?  Or it is just me?  I honestly have a second look at all those scenes.  When Connie Britton was on 24 I was smitten.  I kept hoping all that season that Jack would come to his senses and head back to her and her son.  I really, really, really hoped that that was what was going to happen.

Then she showed up on Friday Night Lights, and some genius paired her with Kyle Chandler from Homefront and - in my world - TV was never the same again.

The best storyline in this episode, however, fell to Tyra and her mother.  Their truck breaks down on the way to a job interview and they fall to pieces.  After some heated debate, Tyra points out that if they can't "change this tyre, right here, right now, by ourselves.. we're both doomed."  Excellent stuff.

Scrubs.  Season 6, Episode16.  One of the regular characters passes away, and a baby is born.  The best bit was JD being attacked by a family of robots.

Normally, Scrubs would be the highlight of my night's TV, but against Friday Night Lights?  Not a hope, not a hope.