John Paul Filo, Cbs
As the 2006-07 season comes to an end, here are the moments that made us click the pause button.
By Neal Justin, Star Tribune
Last update: May 30, 2007 ndash; 4:26 PM
Every good TV run should end with a bang, and the 2006-07 season had more than one, including Rosie O'Donnell's nuclear meltdowns, the baby bombshell on "Desperate Housewives" and the threat of an exploding man on "Heroes." Then there are those moments with impact that will echo long into the summer.
Here are five from the past five months that rocked us off the couch: Tony whacks Christopher. (May 13) Any thoughts that a nice guy existed in the belly of Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) were snuffed out the moment he took advantage of a horrific car accident to murder his favorite nephew and onetime heir apparent, Christopher (Michael Imperioli). "Sopranos" creator David Chase is using the final weeks of his already legendary drama to remind us that his title family is a bunch of self-centered, lazy whiners with more excuses than pasta recipes.
Television usually softens its lead characters as time goes on. Even a bigot like Archie Bunker left the air as a cuddly teddy bear. "The Sopranos," once again, has gone its own way.
Katie Couric gets "personal." (April 4) The CBS anchor should send Don Imus a bouquet of roses. Thanks to his shock-jock controversy, a faux pas by Couric went virtually unnoticed -- a shame, considering it reveals everything that's wrong with TV journalism.
On CBS' website, Couric had shared a personal essay in which she waxed nostalgic about her childhood love affair with the library. In reality, there was nothing personal about it. The piece was turned in by a Web producer who had stolen it from a Wall Street Journal column.
She was promptly fired. Couric walked away clean. She may not be a plagiarist, but she's certainly guilty of phoniness.
And if you can't trust the anchor with her byline, why should we trust her with anything else? A newsman becomes a prime-time star. (Feb.
27, 2007) I'm used to the office being abuzz about what happened on TV last night, but the water-cooler gossip is usually about an episode of "Lost," not a news special. "To Iraq and Back: Bob Woodruff Presents" may not have been a ratings blockbuster, but it touched an emotional chord with viewers who usually give their hearts to "Deal or No Deal" contestants. The former ABC News anchor's report on how he nearly died on the job, and how soldiers are struggling to recover from war injuries, proved that the TV news department doesn't need to rely on weepy celebrity profiles and predator-catching stunts to connect with the audience.
Turns out genuine news and genuine journalists still matter. Let's hope Couric was watching. Everyone wants to watch a fifth-grader.
(Feb. 27, 2007) Silly game shows have scored well in recent years, but there's never been anything quite like "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" which debuted to 27 million viewers, the most impressive prime-time launch in eight years.
Sure, it had the "American Idol" juggernaut as a lead-in, but so did the dramedy "Wedding Planners," which was canceled before the characters could serve cake. The success of "5th Grader" proves that viewers are hungry for family viewing, or at least the kind of shows you can watch without having to shield Junior's eyes every other minute. Networks should be thinking about that as they continue to stuff their lineups with shows like "Ally McJiggle" and "CSI: Grossout.
" Sanjaya gets a cut. (April 18) Sanjaya Malakar made the top eight of "American Idol" before being eliminated. It was pitch-perfect timing.
The success of a kid who couldn't even win a local karaoke contest proved that the show was strong enough to support a lovable novelty act -- although if he had gone any further, he might have sabotaged the "Idol" goal of finding America's best unsung singer. Look for Malakar to show up as a second banana on a sitcom, and look for "Idol" to continue its lucky streak through the end of the decade.
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