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HEAD CASES – I initially thought this was about two guys who solved crimes with the help of ghosts. I was wrong. But it’s still pretty good. Chris O’Donnell is a high-price high-strung lawyer whose wife leaves him and then has a nervous breakdown. Adam Goldberg is two-bit criminal lawyer, given to fits of rage and asking judges to kiss his ass. They meet in the nuthouse and reluctantly end up in practice together. What makes the show watchable is Goldberg. He was Chandler’s creepy roommate when Joey left for awhile in FRIENDS. He was also in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, and got into that fight with Clint in DAZED AND CONFUSED. Goldberg basically plays that same nervous guy, on the edge of insanity, and it’s very watchable. Wednesday is going to be dedicated to LOST (and probably to INVASION, and maybe even E-RING, though I doubt it), but I’d check this out when I can. If you liked ALLY McBEAL, you’ll love this show.

WANTED – Lord have mercy on my soul. The plan was to watch hardly any TV this fall. They are making it very hard to do that! However, I suppose that’s a good problem. WANTED is a show about different law-enforcement types in a special task force asked to round up LA’s 100 worst criminals at large. You get your motley assortment of characters (including the dude who gets paralyzed from REMEMBER THE TITANS as a Christian Virgin) all led by the immortal Gary Cole. (And if you don’t know who Gary Cole is, for shame!) Of course the Chief of Police forces them to accept a woman in the first episode, and you just know it will be her expertise that solves the first capture. And Cole’s family life stuff is a little played. Still, this was VERY entertaining. Very rough too, enough for me to assume that it’s not on the networks in the States (I’m guessing TNT?) Beyond language a tad more than the networks (a few more uses of the word “ass” and one S-bomb), there was some pretty shocking things that happened. Reminded me of FX’s THE SHIELD. These guys are not concerned with civil rights of hardened criminals. They’re ass kickers. If you like cop shows where they get to beat the hell out of criminals, this is definitely for you.

SUPERNATURAL – Flat out the creepiest, scariest—and one of the best—openings I’ve ever seen in a show. First there was a scare you see coming, but it’s still good, and then there was another; best imagery I’ve seen since THE RING. In fact, SUPERNATURAL was better than 99% of the horror movies out there; ten times better than SAW. As the show continued I expected the quality to drop off big time (This is the WB, after all), and there was a touch, but not much. I continued to be impressed all the way through. I’m not sure how often I’ll get to watch this (Tuesdays are going to be hella-full with BONES, HOUSE, OVER THERE and MY NAME IS EARL), and also because this scared me! WB almost always reruns stuff on Sunday afternoons, so if you like getting scared, do yourself a favor and check out the first episode. Can they sustain the chills? Who knows. But they did the first time.