Rating: NNNNN
Feed your addiction
Weeds grabbed headlines for its premise – an herb-selling suburban mom – but on the drug front it’s got nothing on Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip , the drama about the backstage shenanigans at an SNL-style sketch comedy show. Crackling dialogue by West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin refers to bongs, joints and crack pipes. Former real-life med-head Matthew Perry plays a TV writer named Matt who spends the first episode stoned on painkillers, while Bradley Whitford plays a coke-addicted TV director appropriately named Danny Tripp. Sundays at 10 pm on CTV, repeats Mondays at 10 pm on NBC.
It’s a gas, gas, gas
The Knights Of Prosperity is a heist sitcom about a gang of working-stiff misfits who plot to rob Mick Jagger ‘s Manhattan penthouse. Seriously. Mick even does a cameo in the opener. If that’s not enough to make you check out at least one episode, then how about the fact that the gang’s ringleader, a janitor named Eugene Gurkin, is played by none other than Donal Logue – you know, the cool, philosophizing fat dude from The Tao Of Steve. Tuesdays at 9 pm on ABC (debuts October 17).
Focus on docs
The new season of CBC Newsworld’s The Lens includes a quartet of documentaries about bad bosses, e-mail spam, autism and the difficulties of big-screen moviemaking. Bosses (October 10 and October 14 at 10 pm) introduces us to a one-time German army cook turned restaurateur, a hairdresser turned spa mogul and a welder in the Alberta oil fields. Spam: The Documentary (October 17 and 21 at 10 pm) is an amusing look at those annoying in-box fillers that includes an interview with Monty Python’s Terry Jones and a visit to the secret AOL control room. The Boy Inside (October 24 and 28 at 10 pm) is a first-hand look at a young boy with Asperger syndrome, a form of high-functioning autism characterized by socially and emotionally inappropriate behaviour. And Wrath Of Gods (October 31 and November 4 at 10 pm) is a Heart Of Darkness-style behind-the-scenes doc on the making of Sturla Gunnarsson ‘s low-budget Beowulf & Grendel, starring Gerard Butler and Sarah Polley and filmed in Iceland.
Tinseltown tweak
Based on Marky Mark ‘s early days as a hot Hollywood property and his trio of hangers-on from back home, Entourage is a Tinseltown satire that plays a bit like a straight male Sex And The City crossed with Altman’s The Player. Sensitive pretty boy Adrian Grenier plays up-and-comer Vince, while the posse includes Vince’s struggling-actor brother Johnny Drama ( Kevin DIllon ), best bud turned manager Eric ( Kevin Connolly ) and pothead freeloader Turtle ( Jerry Ferrara ). Rounding out the regulars is Jeremy Piven as deliciously amoral agent Ari. And since nobody loves navel-gazing more than Hollywood, A-list name-dropping and cameos – Jessica Alba , James Cameron , Mandy Moore , Val Kilmer , Gary freakin’ Busey ! – abound. Mondays at 10 pm on Citytv (debuts October 9).
Fall classic
An all-New York World Series? Could happen – the Yankees and Mets have clinched post-season berths. Also looking at strong chances of booking a trip to Disneyland are the Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins and Oakland A’s in the AL and the L.A. Dodgers, San Diego Padres (still looking for their first championship) and St. Louis Cardinals in the NL. Three of the four division series kick off October 3. The World Series (on Fox) wraps up in November.
Barney trouble
It may not be the most-watched sitcom (that, inexplicably, would be Two And A Half Men ), but there’s at least one very good reason to check out How I Met Your Mother : former Doogie Howser Neil Patrick Harris as catchphrase-coining wannabe womanizer Barney. Think Larry from Three’s Company, but with better suits and smarter comebacks. A perpetual scene stealer, Harris’s off-kilter, oddball performance is a breath of fresh, decidedly un-PC air. Mondays at 8:30 pm on CBS.
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