Week In Sloth

The Week In Sloth

\ Feb 22, 2007

3 min read

Thursday 22

“The O.C.” (KASA-2 8 p.m.) What happens to the Cohens, the Coopers, Ryan and Taylor as the once-popular teen soap signs off for the final time?

“Oprah Winfrey Oscar Special” (KOAT-7 9 p.m.) Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman and Jamie Foxx interview George Clooney, Russell Crowe and Sidney Poitier. Where’s Oprah in all this? Counting her money.

Ghosts of Abu Ghraib (HBO 10:30 p.m.) Filmmaker Rory Kennedy investigates the abuse of prisoners at the infamous Iraqi prison.

Friday 23

Best Picture Marathon (TCM 4 a.m.) TCM caps off its 31 Days of Oscar promotion with a three-day run of Oscar-winning films. Go from 1930’s All’s Quiet on the Western Front to 1999’s American Beauty with stops at 1935’s Mutiny on the Bounty, 1977’s Annie Hall and 1953’s From Here to Eternity along the way.

“Spoons” (BBC America 9 p.m.) This new sketch comedy series, based on the lives of fabulous young urbanites, joins BBC’s Underground block of late-night comedy.

Saturday 24

“Independent Spirit Awards” (IFC/AMC 3/8 p.m.) Live on IFC (tape-delayed and censored in the later AMC timeslot), it’s the Independent Spirit Awards, hosted by Sarah Silverman. (Now do you know why it’s censored?)

Fire Serpent (Sci-Fi 7 p.m.) This Sci-Fi Channel Original purports to be “from the mind of William Shatner,” he of Comedy Central roasting and Priceline shopping fame. In it, flaming monsters from the sun attack people. Awesome.

Sunday 25

“World Combat League” (Versus 6 p.m.) NHL is on an All-Star break, so Versus has got nothing to air. Hence, this new sport invented by Chuck Norris. It’s described as “full throttle” fighting in which teams (five men and one woman) have only two rounds in which to beat their rivals. No clinching, no holding, no ground fighting. Tonight, it’s the Philadelphia Fire versus the New England Strikers. Did I mention Chuck Norris made it up?

Monday 26

“Michael Palin’s Hemingway Adventure” (Travel 5 p.m.) Bullfighting in Spain? Big game hunting in Africa? It’s all in a day’s work for Monty Python’s Michael Palin.

“Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern” (Travel Channel 7 p.m.) Andy must have drawn the short straw over at the Travel Channel, because it’s now his job to travel the world eating bugs and intestines.

“Building a Dream: The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy” (KOAT-7) I like Oprah as much as the next guy, but should she really be allowed two prime time specials in one week?

“The Black Donnellys” (KOB-4 9 p.m.) Four working-class, Irish-American brothers get involved in organized crime in NBC’s newest drama.

Tuesday 27

“Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader” (KASA-2 8:30 p.m.) Well, it depends. Are you talking about an American fifth grader?

Wednesday 28

“America’s Next Top Model” (KWBQ-19 7 p.m.) What good is it to be America’s Next Top Model if amateurs like Beyoncé are just going to keep stealing all the covers?