Guess what tomorrow is?
Halloween, you say? Who cares. It's the day House finally returns after the baseball hiatus. Not only that, but it's the start of a guest run by Dr. Boomer, one of my early crushes. (Though I have to admit, the less obvious charms of David Morse in St. Elsewhere had some slight competition from that show's Mark Harmon and Denzel Washington.) I worry about what the new House competition might do to CBC's Intelligence, but I can only do my part by watching them both. I know, I'm a hero.
Coincidentally, in today's mail I got a couple of House reminders. First was my Amazon order of the first two seasons of A Bit of Fry and Laurie on DVD, which I absolutely did not illegally download a couple of years ago, and really enjoyed and was therefore eager for the official DVD release. No sirree.
Second was a 3 lbs screener from CBS, in a much fancier package than normal, with a cool picture of a brain scan on the cover. I may be squeamish about the blood and guts, but I'm all about the brain. Plus it came with a present: a brain squeezy ball. I love CBS.
Yes, my affection can be bought for the price of a 10 cent squeezy ball. Fox never gives me presents. Except, I guess, a show I love more than my brain tells me is reasonable.
There's no guarantee I'll love 3 lbs as much as the cool present. While I tend to like medical shows in general, I'm both curious and a little wary of just how House-like this one sounds, focused as it is on a cranky, troubled, but brilliant neurosurgeon. There was room on my schedule last season for both House and Grey's Anatomy because of how different they are. I don't know if I could watch a show that feels like House-lite, and I don't think any show could do what House does better.
Still, a premise doesn't really say much about how I'll respond to a show. And speaking of crushes, it stars Stanley Tucci. He was just another solid character actor to me until Big Night, a movie that had the distinction of most surprisingly effective use of a former Wings cast member until Studio 60. Tucci co-wrote and co-directed the lovely, sweet (and other less girly adjectives) movie about two brothers, played by Tucci and a post-Wings, pre-Monk Tony Shalhoub, who concoct an elaborate meal in their failing restaurant in preparation for a potentially business-saving visit by Louis Prima. It'll make you laugh, make you cry, make you really, really hungry.
Anyway, I'll write an actual review after I've actually watched 3 lbs (I think CBS wants me to call it 3LBS but I can't quite manage that yet). In the meantime, I've got some Hugh Laurie and Stanley Tucci to watch.
