Why I also can't work Monday nights anymore...

Things ya need to know first:

• You can click on [most] photos for links to shows sites.
• I don't have TiVo or DVR, nor does my VCR currently work through my TV, so don't waste your comments on recommending those as reasons why I should continue working nights. I'm tellin' ya, the only option is to quit the hostessing gig (or you can buy me a TiVo).
• I also don't have cable, so network TV channels are, sadly, the only options here, folks.
• I am aware that this, previous, and subsequent posts only serve to prove to the entire world that I love me some TV... a little too much.

One of the best shows on TV -- you need to be watching this Mondays at 8:00:

The family that cheats together stays together. At the start of the third season, Lucille (Jessica Walter) dates other men while her husband (Jeffrey Tambor) is under house arrest; Lindsay (Portia de Rossi) and Tobias (David Cross) get more out of their marriage by sleeping around; and Buster (Tony Hale) fakes a persistent vegetative state to continue his ''affair'' with a nurse. New this season: Charlize Theron guest stars as Michael (Justin Bateman) Bluth's g'friend. Not sure what Job is up to this season, but I am sure it will have something to do with taking advantage of the family.


This is followed at 8:30, also on Fox, by a newbie that I wanna see (not many preconceived notions on my part, but maybe it will be as funny as promised):

KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL
Based on renowned chef Anthony Bourdain’s best-selling autobiography (of which I read most, but, sadly, never finished), the sitcom centers around Chef Jack Bourdain (played by Alias' loss, KC's gain, the yummy Bradley Cooper), who found enormous success at a young age. Unfortunately, Jack’s culinary genius also led to a lifestyle of boozing, womanizing and drugs — excesses that eventually landed him in the gutter. After hitting rock bottom and deciding to sober up, the only job he could get was slopping soggy pasta for the masses at a tacky opera-themed restaurant. Out of the blue, Jack is offered an opportunity to get back in the game as head chef at a top New York restaurant. There’s just one problem: the owner gives Jack a mere 48 hours to fully staff his kitchen and prepare to dazzle over 300 customers – including the food critic for the New York Times (who also happens to be a jilted ex). Jack hastily assembles a renegade crew of colleagues from his past. Also along for the ride are a sexy hostess (played by Jaime King), and the owner’s gorgeous daughter who can’t wait for Jack to fail (played by Bonnie Somerville, Friend Ross Geller's one-time girlfriend Mona). ***AFTER THE SHOW UPDATE*** It was OK. I laughed and I liked the characters, but it was kinda cheesey, especially the end of the episode. Since I read (most of) the book, it is weird to watch Anthony Bourdaine's chronicals in a half-hour comedy; I would have expected an hour-long, more dramatic series with natural hints of humor from "the floor."

OK, this is where I am stuck like a bump on a frog for an hour. There is NOTHING on between 9 and 10; I'm not a Las Vegas fan, but the addition of Lara Flynn Boyle may change my mind. There are truly not that many great shows on Monday nights, haven't been for a long time and may not be this year (something to do with that football game on Monday nights??), so I am really hoping that Kitchen Confidential fills at least one half-hour gap between Arrested Development and Medium. Which brings me to the return of . . .



Part 2 of last season's cliffhanger premiers Sept 19 at 10. While Capt. Push (guest star Arliss Howard) lingers between life and death, Allison (Emmy nominee Patricia Arquette) struggles to decipher confusing messages from the other side in an attempt to stop a serial killer before he claims his next victim. Jake Weber, Miguel Sandoval, David Cubitt, Sofia Vassilieva and Maria Lark also star. I love this show not only for the supernatural and criminal pursuit levels, but also because of the marriage and family aspect. Allison has three daughters (the oldest of which gets on my nerves with her bratty facial expressions) and a (hot) husband, and the show doesn't shy away from showing how home life is effected by her foray into her position with the DAs office.



And that's all for tonight's broadcast. Stay tuned for your local news and tomorrow's post on why I can't work Wednesdays (patience, Young Grasshoppers).