What You Will Be Watching Instead of the Winter Olympics: Week 1
Tuesday, February 16
Men's Short Figure Skating [8 PM, NBC]
In the most competitive and unpredictable of the figure skating events this year, reigning champion Yevgeny Plushenko and 2006 silver medalist Stephane Lambiel go head to head for the gold. NBC will also air coverage of women's snowboard cross, women's 500 m. speed skating and men's super-combined Alpine skiing.
American Idol [8 PM, Fox]
Why watch the skating stars of today when you can see the stars of tomorrow delight America with pitchy Alicia Keys covers. Now, if the male skaters would sing while skating, that would be something. Something no one would watch.
Wednesday, February 17
Men's Snowboarding [8 PM, NBC]
Tonight is a potentially big medal night for America. Shaun White, who won gold in Torino, is favorite in tonight's halfpipe event. Also tonight, Lindsey Vonn competes in the women's downhill and Apolo Ohno skates live in short track's 1000m and 5000m relay.
Modern Family [8 PM, ABC]
Instead of trying to enjoy the success of random Olympians, play a drinking game during tonight's Modern Family repeat. Take one drink every time the show tries to pass off a banal insight into life as an edgy revelation about the state of American society. Or whenever there is a reaction shot of Jesse Tyler Ferguson.
Thursday, February 18
Men's Figure Skating [8 PM, NBC]
The U.S. stands a chance at winning it's first gold in men's figure skating since Brian Boitano's 1988 victory. American figure skater/provocateur Johnny Weir will compete in his second games, in a new costume that adheres to PETA standards (as opposed to the white fox fur he wore at last month's U.S. championships). NBC will also air coverage of women's halfpipe and women's 1000m speed skating.
Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains [8 PM, CBS]
Who needs to spend three commercial-interrupted hours worth of television deciding which non-American Olympic competitors are the most evil when you can tune into a reality show where each player is already conveniently labeled. Tonight, another member of the tribe is voted out.
Pages: 1 2
Subscribe to the new Movieline on YouTube
Comments
Go Johnny Queer, Go! (I can say that). But, seriously, isn't Evan Lysacek favored to win over Johnny? (see, I told you I could say that.)
Except for The Graaduate, none of your choices were the least bit better than the olympics. Mercifully, the networks rerun their episodes online, so i'll be catching up on LOST, HEROES and THE SIMPSONS that i've missed for one reason or another.
It was as if Bob Costas recycled the same remarks from the 2006 Winter Olympics. Once again Bob Costas was not respectful to the Olympic spirit of sportsmanship and endless possible dreams for all the athletes who entered the stadium during the roll call of nations. Almost from the beginning Costas mentioned that some countries had no chance of winning a medal. In the case of Jamaica, Costas remarked they “will not be much of a factor.’ Those comments are just demeaning to smaller nations with the same Olympic dreams as the larger ones.
In other words Bob Costas was saying ‘thanks for showing up.’ That the other athletes from nations with less national resources, or corporate sponsorship might not somehow show the world a medal winning performance is not just shoddy sports journalism, it also reeks of an ethnocentric mindset that Costas has shown before. That it is wrong to make such statements is obvious. The Olympic ideal trumps nationalism and world politics. It is supposed to be the place where the human spirit is on display, and the individual abilities are tested. To count athletes out before the games started is a shallow way to broadcast an event. It is also a misguided way of looking at the world.