Sopranos Misfires, but HBO Reloads

INSIDE THE IDIOT BOX

June 11, 2006

Well, now that the disappointing season of The Sopranos has come and gone (and been figuratively hacked up, covered with lyme and buried under the highway by disgruntled fans on various Internet message boards) it's time to look forward to Sunday nights on HBOagain. Don't get me wrong. I watched the travails of Tony and the gang right up until the bitter, boring end last Sunday night. Speaking of which, I have to ask - what the heck was with that beret Tony was sporting in that last scene? He looked about as natural as a Kennedy in a convent.
Anyway, The Sopranos now heads to the sidelines until January, when it will return with eight final episodes. Considering how hideously the series nosedived this season after a promising start, it's hard to think that many people will be counting the days until its return. But its recent slump doesn't change the fact that it remains one of the most finely crafted series in TV history, so discerning Idiot Box Addicts should be rooting for a return to form and hoping that creator David Chase can end things on a fitting high note.
For its part, HBO certainly isn't sitting around waiting until then. Tonight, the cable net has the season premiere of four - count 'em four - shows, including two welcome returnees and two promising newcomers:
Deadwood (9 p.m.): The third and quite possibly final season of David Milch's wild and wooly (not to mention extremely potty-mouthed) western finds the titular outlaw town starting to take a turn toward civilized life. If you watch the show at all, you know that that spells doom for most of the colorful cast of characters, highlighted by Ian McShane's aptly named Al Swearengen. Also portending doom was the recent news that HBO released all of the show's actors from their contracts, meaning this season's visit to Deadwood is all but guaranteed to be the last. Catch it while you can.
Entourage (10 p.m.): On the flip side, this comedy/drama about hotshot young actor Vincent Chase (Adrien Grenier) and his frat pack posse of Hollywood wannabes seems to be hitting its pop culture stride as it enters its third season. More and more people are talking about it, and with good reason, since once you learn to groove to its beat it's a pretty darn entertaining show and send-up of modern-day celebrity. There's even a web site where you can learn which character you're most like - trust me, you don't want to be Turtle. Watch out for Jeremy Piven's blowhard agent Ari, one of the best creations on TV these days.
Lucky Louie (10:30 p.m.): This brand-new series has the potential to become HBO's next Curb Your Enthusiasm, i.e., a cringe-inducing, drop-dead hilarious show centered around a unique comic persona. The show stars comic Louis C.K. at the center of a traditional sitcom - he plays a middle class guy with a wife and two kids. But if you know anything about Louis CK, who has written for Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Dana Carvey Show, you know to expect anything but a traditional sitcom. Louis CK is revered by his fellow comics, but has never broken out to the mainstream. He is, after all, the guy who directed Pootie Tang. There's a high risk/reward here, and HBO is probably - no, definitely - the only network that would take a chance on this guy. Given their track record, I'm betting Lucky Louie is a hit.
Dane Cook's TourGasm (11:00 p.m.): If you're in your early to mid-twenties or (better yet) still in college, then you likely not only know who Dane Cook is, you can recite most of his stand-up routine. If you're not, then you've probably never heard of the guy. Cook's raunchy brand of purposefully dumb humor has made him a god on college campuses, and he hosted SNL last year and has a movie with Jessica Simpson coming out later this year. He's about to break out big-time, is the point, and here's his first step in that direction. TourGasm documents his 30-day comedy tour across America with fellow funnymen Gary Gulman, Bobby Kelly and Jay Davis. Expect to laugh, but don't expect to like yourself for it in the morning.

CLOSING TIME AGAIN: Last summer, TNT's The Closer emerged as a surprising hit, and the series - which stars Kyra Sedgwick as a hard-nosed LA detective - returns for its second season Monday night at 10 p.m. It's a good watch, and sports a solid supporting cast, including the irrepressible J.K. Simmons. Also tomorrow night on TNT, look for the premiere of Saved at 9 p.m. The show stars Tom Everett Scott (That Thing You Do!, Boiling Point) as an EMT in Portland, Oregon. Medical dramas are everywhere these days, but here's a show that at least is trying to take a different tact, and there's certainly drama inherent in the daily lives of ambulance paramedics. Color this Idiot Box Addict interested.
Saved premieres tomorrow night at 9 on TNT, followed immediately by the season premiere of The Closer.