SueTube – Let’s talk TV with critic Susan Young

Oh, yes. It’s back. Thank you association of movie and TV producers, who still won’t budge on the WGA strike.

But for those of you who have been yearning to be “The Mole,” this is nothing but good news coming your direction.

ABC is bringing back “The Mole,” featuring new “whodunit” game elements, interactivity and a new host.

“The Mole,” based on a Belgian show, follows a group of players as they try to figure out who among them is “The Mole,” a saboteur trying to keep them from winning money.

Players must decide who they think “The Mole” is and then learn as much about him or her as they can, because, at the end of each one-hour episode, the player who knows the least about The Mole is immediately eliminated from the game.

In the final episode, The Mole is revealed and one of two final players wins a “substantial cash prize,” according to the ABC press release.

ABC’s also saying it was a “highly-rated ABC unscripted series” when it aired during its four-season run. Yet, in those heady non-strike days, ABC kicked it to the curb.

Not so fussy these days, now are you ABC?

Anyway, Anderson Cooper was the host back then, and since he’s doing other serious journalism stuff now, they are replacing him with a person-to-be-named-later. And, of course, there will be an online component to it all, because online is the hot ticket these days, my Internet buddies.

Oh, yea. And you want to know about casting. Casting for players begins immediately. Just go to molecasting.

With ratings like these, if the CW was a TV show, it would have been cancelled long ago.

The barely breathing network trotted out its new game plan today, with the family-in-Africa drama “Life is Wild” missing. If you don’t know what show I’m talking about, don’t worry. Very few viewers ever tuned it. In fact, if you gathered all the regular viewers together they probably wouldn’t even make a noticible line in Starbucks.

Penn Badgley as Dan and Blake Lively as Serena star in Gossip Girl on The CW. Photo Eric Liebowitz /The CW

Not that they don’t have some great shows. “Gossip Girl” is a great guilty pleasure, and although “Reaper”never again rose to the level of its fantastic pilot, it’s still not a bad show.

Enough pitching. Here’s the line-up:

Monday

8 p.m. “GOSSIP GIRL” (Beginning January 28)

9 p.m. “PUSSYCAT DOLLS PRESENT: GIRLICIOUS” (Beginning February 18)

Tuesday

8 p.m. “REAPER” (Beginning January 15)

8 p.m. “BEAUTY AND THE GEEK” (Beginning March 11)

9 p.m. “ONE TREE HILL” Wednesday (Beginning February 20)

8 p.m. “AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL”

9 p.m. “PUSSYCAT DOLLS PRESENT: GIRLICIOUS”

Encore

Thursday

8 p.m. “SMALLVILLE”

9 p.m. “REAPER” (Beginning February 28)

Sunday (Beginning February 10)

7 p.m. “CW NOW”

7:30 p.m. “EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS” Encores

8 p.m. “EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS”

8:30 p.m. “ALIENS IN AMERICA”

9 p.m. “GIRLFRIENDS”

9:30 p.m. “THE GAME”

Well, now we know who survived, and it was a bit anticlimactic we must say.

But still a good episode, and one that will have to last the fans a good long time. It was the last episode filmed, so it will be while to get back up to speed even if the WGA strike comes to an end soon.

So we’ll simply have to talk amongst ourselves. And judging from the last group chat, you might come up with even better scenarios.

We knew Victor died. We assumed Ida Greenberg was no longer among the living. But some adventuresome bloggers set out some cool scenarios, including the death of Tom.

No, we simply wouldn’t tolerate Tom getting mooshed in the tornado. FELICITY HUFFMAN, DOUG SAVANT

Lynnette handling that brood would certainly have been an interesting twist, but I simply don’t want to lose Tom over it. After all, they have the only normal relationship on Wisteria Lane.

The Scavo Clan survived the tornado on “Desperate Housewives.” But will the show survive the WGA strike? FELICITY HUFFMAN, SHANE KINSMAN, RACHEL FOX, BRENT KINSMAN – Photo by Craig Sjodin/ABC

The Ida storyline actually turned out nicely, with the discovery that she played competitive baseball in a sort of “A League of Their Own” deal. We could see the crusty Ida as one of those girls all grown old.

Ida was Karen McCluskey’s best pal, and the one who found Mr. McCluskey’s body in the Mrs. McCluskey’s freezer. Guess that was all forgiven, since Karen invited Ida over to weather the storm. Ida saved the Scavo kids by putting them under the stairs. This meant there was no room for her, and she died in the collapsed house.

We’ve got two new storylines set up: Carlos is broke and blind, and doesn’t think Gaby will stick around after she discovers he’s blind. She’s coping well with the broke for right now, which is more than we would have expected from her.

And while we’ve suspected something shady happening in the Katherine-Dylan-Adam triangle, things came to a head when Katherine kicks Adam out of the house and he discovers a note that fills him on a mystery. Is the real Dylan dead? Was this Dylan snatched as her replacement? Did somebody die and there’s a cover-up?

Nah. Not on DH.

If anyone missed the episode, go to www.abc.com and watch it online.

Can an Oakland clown learn something from a by-the-book housewife?

That’s the deal we get on Jan. 16 when two NorCal families mix things up on the ABC series “Wife Swap.” For those who haven’t seen the show, this is how it works. Each week two families with very different lifestyles exchange wives to discover just what it’s like to live another woman’s life.

While we don’t know exactly where the Marshall family lives, the press release says only that they live in Northern California. Tanya Marshall (37), her husband Ben (38) do not raise their four children, Trevaughn (15), Brianna (14), Benjamin (12) and Josiah (10)—they train them. Tanya describes her home as a boot camp and childhood as a time to prepare children to become successful adults. Ben and Tanya both freely admit that fun is not a priority.

The kids address their parents as Sir and Ma’am. They have to do hours of chores around the house and if they don’t do them to Ben’s satisfaction they just have to do them again. Tanya home schools the kids and TV and computer time are strictly limited. The kids are so overprotected that they’re forbidden to go past the stop sign at the end of their street. The Marshalls are very careful with their finances and Tanya takes the kids out in the neighborhood to recycle bottles and cans so they can make extra money.

Then we go to the flip side with Oaklanders Cecilia Harrison-Velasco (30), her husband John (38) and their daughter Maya (7). The whole family is dedicated to Cecilia’s ambition to be a clown to the point that they have plunged themselves into debt to fund Cecilia’s expensive clown lessons at a local clown college. The family lives in a tight, converted garage in order to save money.

For the Harrison-Velascos, doing what makes you happy is far more important than having a clean environment, financial security or a spacious home. John treats Cecilia like a queen and has put his serious acting career on the back burner so he can help live Cecilia’s clown dreams. Maya has no chores, no responsibilities and is encouraged to question adult authority at every turn.

In the first week, Cecilia doesn’t get to clown around much, because she has to enforce the kids’ long list of chores. When the kids show their unhappiness to Cecilia about the limits of their freedom, Cecilia confronts Ben about how ridiculously strict his home rules are.

Meanwhile, Tanya is not happy living in the garage and she reluctantly attends clown school with John and Maya, complete with clown costume and make-up. She notices that John seems to put his goals after Cecilia’s and questions their lack of financial vision.

In the second week of the swap, when the wives change the rules and turn the tables, it’s circus time as Cecilia sends in the clowns and the Marshall kids dress up. She tries to free their self-expression encouraging them to go wild throwing paint around Ben’s office. Trust me. I’d slap the pancake off her face if she tried that in my office.

Cecilia sets a “no boundaries” rule so that the kids no longer do chores or conduct themselves within any guidelines. The kids gather the courage to tell their father how unhappy they are with the restrictions that are put on them, which forces Ben to re-evaluate his methods.

In Oakland, there’s no more clowning around when Tanya makes structure a top priority and moves John and Maya into a larger home. The house might be bigger and better but John and Maya are not allowed to bring any of their clowning gear. Having to abandon everything he loves, John has a total breakdown and heads out of the house in his underwear.

At the end of the swap, the couples are reunited to that hokey tune “Couldn’t live without your love” tune and we get the confrontation between the couples and the what-are-they-doing-now update.

Here’s what we figure WON’T happen this time around: Yau-Man won’t be giving up a new truck on the promise that a guy named Dreamz won’t vote him out.

Yau-Man Chan, a computer engineer from Martinez

The fabulous Yau Man from Martinez isn’t the only Bay Area person representing on “Survivor: Micronesia – Fans vs. Favorites” when the 16th installment of the premieres at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7 on CBS. On the fan side, Mary Sartain of Emeryville will be battling out.

Mary Sartain, a real estate/financial company owner from Emeryville

And she doesn’t have to deal with Jonny Fairplay on her team.

Cirie Fields, Jonathan Penner, Eliza Orlins, Amanda Kimmel, Jonny Fairplay, James Clement, Parvati Shallow, Ozzy and Yau-Man Chan are the 10 castaways from the Favorites tribe, set to compete in SURVIVOR: MICRONESIA – FANS VS. FAVORITES when the sixteenth installment of the Emmy Award-winning reality series premieres Thursday, Feb. 7 (8:00 – 9:00 PM ET/PT) on CBS

In a “Survivor” first, 10 ultra-fans of the series will take on 10 former castaways to compete. The two tribes will be marooned amid the Rock Islands of Palau, Micronesia. The skills of the former castaways will be put to the test while the tribe of first-time competitors will see if their enthusiasm and passion for the game is enough to distinguish them as worthy competitors.

It sure helped superfan Todd win the last round.

Mary Sartain, Michael “Mikey B” Bortone, Tracy Hughes-Wolf, Chet Welch, Natalie Bolton, Joel Anderson, Kathleen Sleckman, Jason Siska, Erik Reichenbach, and Alexis Jones are the 10 castaways from the Fav’s tribe

Here are the competitors:

FAVORITES:

YAU-MAN CHAN

55

Martinez, Calif. (born in Hong Kong, raised in Borneo, Malaysia)

Computer Engineer

JAMES CLEMENT

30

Lafayette, La.

Grave Digger

AMI CUSACK

34 (35 on Jan. 25)

Denver

Nanny

JONNY FAIRPLAY

33

Danville, Va.

Professional Wrestler/Reality Star

CIRIE FIELDS

37

Norwalk, Conn. (originally from Jersey City, New Jersey)

O.R. Coordinating Nurse

AMANDA KIMMEL

23

Los Angeles (originally from Kalispell, Mont.)

Fashion Designer

OSCAR “OZZY” LUSTH

26

Venice, Calif. (originally from Mexico)

Freelance Photographer/Writer

ELIZA ORLINS

25

New York

Law School Student

JONATHAN PENNER

45

Los Angeles (originally from New York)

Writer/Producer

PARVATI SHALLOW

25

Los Angeles (originally from Vero Beach, Fla.)

Non-Profit Organizer

FANS:

JOEL ANDERSON

32

Avondale, Ariz.

Firefighter

NATALIE BOLTON

32

Los Angeles (originally from Houston)

Bartender/Personal Trainer

MICHAEL “MIKEY B” BORTONE

34

Los Angeles (originally from Boston)

Aspiring Writer/Actor

TRACY HUGHES-WOLF

43

Fredericksburg, Va.

Commercial and Residential Builder

ALEXIS JONES

24

Los Angeles (originally from Austin, Texas)

Motivational Speaker

ERIK REICHENBACH

22

Pinckney, Mich.

Art Student

MARY SARTAIN

29

Emeryville, Calif.

Real Estate/Financial Company Owner

JASON SISKA

22

Fox River Grove, Ill. (originally from St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands)

Gymnastics Coach/Student

KATHLEEN SLECKMAN

45

Wheaton, Ill. (originally from Manitowoc, Wisc.)

Golf Course Vendor

CHET WELCH

48

Ford City, Penn.

Pharmacy Customer Service/Pageant Coach

What would the networks do without football during the writers’ strike? Well, at least the nets know people will still tune into “CSI” and “Without a Trace.”

And with that, my friends, we have your weekly ratings rundown:

1 NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
2 NFL SAT NIGHT SPECIAL
3 NBC NFL SPECIAL 12/29
4 60 MINUTES
5 CSI
6 WITHOUT A TRACE
7 SUNDAY NIGHT NFL PRE-KICK
8 DEAL OR NO DEAL 12/25
9 AMAZING RACE 12
10 CSI: NY THURSDAY 8PM SP
11 CRIMINAL MINDS – 8PM SPC
12 OT, THE
13 LAW & ORDER:SVU10P12/26
14 NBC NFL SP PRE-KICK 12/29
15 FOOTBALL NT AMERICA PT 3
16 ABC SUN MOVIE OF WK-12/30
17 LAW AND ORDER:SVU 12/25
18 COLD CASE
19 LAW AND ORDER:SVU 9P12/26
20 FOX MOVIE SP-12/26 8P
21 HOUSE SP-XMAS 9P
22 NCIS – SPECIAL
23 SIMPSONS
24 SHARK
25 MOST OUTRAG MOMNTS8P12/26
26 NUMB3RS
27 WOMEN’S MURDER CLUB
28 FAMILY GUY
29 KENNEDY CENTER HONORS
30 FOX MOVIE SP-12/27 8P
31 GHOST WHISPERER
32 GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
33 CSI: MIAMI – SPECIAL
34 AMERICAN DAD
35 DATELINE-FRI 12/28
36 SINGING BEE 12/28
37 COPS 2
38 WONDERFUL WORLD DISNEY SP
39 20/20-FRI
40 AMW: AMERICA FIGHTS BACK
41 KING OF THE HILL
42 TWO AND A HALF MEN SP
43 FOX MOVIE SP-12/28 8P
44 MY NAME IS EARL
45 COPS
46 MOONLIGHT
47 ABC MON MOVIE OF WK-12/24
48 UNIT, THE – SPECIAL
49 PRIVATE PRACTICE-THU
50 FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN
51 RULES OF ENGAGEMENT-SPC
52 FOOTBALL NT AMERICA PT 2
53 NBC MOVIE OF WEEK-MO12/24
54 UGLY BETTY
55 PUSHING DAISIES
56 BONES SP-XMAS 8P
57 PRIVATE PRACTICE
58 48 HOURS MYSTERY SPCL
59 30 ROCK
60 HOW GRINCH STOLE XMAS-MON
61 WOMEN’S MURDER CLUB-SAT
62 MEN IN TREES
63 OFFICE
64 HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER-SP
65 SAMANTHA WHO SP 4-12/29
66 BIG BANG THEORY, THE – SP
67 DIRTY SEXY MONEY
68 SAMANTHA WHO SP 3-12/29
69 SCRUBS
70 E.R.
71 SAMANTHA WHO SP 2-12/29
72 SAMANTHA WHO SP 1-12/29
73 FOX MOVIE SP-XMAS EVE 8P
74 SMALLVILLE
75 CROWNED
76 EV HATES CHRIS-XMASEVE
77 FAMILY TELEVISION AWARDS
78 ALIENS IN AMERICA-XMASEVE
79 GAME, THE-XMASEVE
80 GIRLFRIENDS-XMASEVE
GOSSIP GIRL
82 CROWNED-XMAS
83 REAPER-XMAS
CROWNED-ENC
85 LIFE IS WILD
86 ALIENS IN AMERICA-SUN
87 CW NOW

Wow. There’s some alliteration for you.

Heather Homes has nabbed the weekend news chair next to Ken Wayne. In a canned press release circulated after hours today, Holmes says she’s excited about her new role at the most respected stations in the country.

Heather Holmes

It’s been two years this month since Holmes joined the KTVU-Channel 2 news team as a reporter, and was promoted to fill-in anchor in November 2007. She came to the station from WPIX in New York. Her career began in Lubbock Texas.

Holmes received two Emmy Awards in New York and a Long Island Press Club Award for Environmental Reporting in 2005. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Texas.

Well, at least Fox decided to cut back on the reality shows, or should we say show?

“When Women Ruled the World” has been shelved for the time being. The reality series would have plunked down some men on a primitive location where the women build a society where they are the power players.
In order to win, the men must accede to the women’s every demand, 24/7. Over the series’ duration, the men will be eliminated by the women until one last man is standing.

On Mondays, Fox will double pump the dramas with the derivative “New Amsterdam,” a stale tale about an immortal and the downbeat “Canterbury’s Law” about a couple dealing with the abduction of their child by leading messy lives.

And the troubled comedy by “Gilmore Girls” creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, “The Return of Jezebel James,” gets a shot on the schedule in March following a sneak preview after “American Idol” on March 12.

“Encore” episodes – better known as repeats to you and me – of “Bones” and “House” return to the schedule as well.

FOX WINTER/SPRING SCHEDULE

MONDAY

Monday, Feb. 18:

8:00-9:00 PM PRISON BREAK (Season Finale)

9:00-10:00 PM TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES

Monday, Feb. 25:

8:00-9:00 PM THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

9:00-10:00 PM TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES

Monday, March 3:

8:00-10:00 PM TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES (Two-Hour Season Finale)

Mondays, beginning March 10:

8:00-9:00 PM HOUSE (Time Period Premiere)

9:00-10:00 PM NEW AMSTERDAM (Series Premiere)

Monday, April 7:

8:00-10:00 PM NEW AMSTERDAM (Two-Hour Season Finale)

Mondays, beginning April 14:

8:00-9:00 PM HOUSE

9:00-10:00 PM CANTERBURY’S LAW (Series Premiere)

***************************

TUESDAY

Tuesday, Feb. 26 & March 25:

8:00-9:30 PM AMERICAN IDOL

9:30-10:00 PM BACK TO YOU

Tuesday, March 4:

8:00-9:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL

9:00-10:00 PM NEW AMSTERDAM (Series Preview)

Tuesday, March 11 & 18:

8:00-10:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL

Tuesdays, beginning April 1:

8:00-9:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL

9:00-10:00 PM HELL’S KITCHEN (Season Premiere)

***************************

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday, Feb. 27:

8:00-9:30 PM AMERICAN IDOL

9:30-10:00 PM BACK TO YOU

Wednesday, March 12:

8:00-9:00 PM THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

9:00-9:30 PM AMERICAN IDOL (Time Period Premiere)

9:30-10:00 PM THE RETURN OF JEZEBEL JAMES (Series Preview)

Wednesdays, beginning March 19:

8:00-9:00 PM THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

9:00-9:30 PM AMERICAN IDOL

9:30-10:00 PM BACK TO YOU (Time Period Premiere)

***************************

THURSDAY

Thursday, Feb. 21:

8:00-9:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL

9:00-10:00 PM ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5th GRADER?

Thursday, Feb. 28:

8:00-9:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL

9:00-10:00 PM DON’T FORGET THE LYRICS!

Thursday, March 6:

8:00-9:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL

9:00-10:00 PM NEW AMSTERDAM (Series Preview)

Thursdays, beginning March 13:

8:00-9:00 PM ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5th GRADER?

9:00-10:00 PM DON’T FORGET THE LYRICS!

***************************

FRIDAY

Fridays, Feb. 22, 29 & March 7:

8:00-9:00 PM BONES

9:00-10:00 PM HOUSE

Fridays, beginning March 14:

8:00-8:30 PM ‘TIL DEATH (Time Period Premiere)

8:30-9:00 PM THE RETURN OF JEZEBEL JAMES

(Series Premiere)

9:00-10:00 PM BONES (Time Period Premiere)

It’s 2008, and time to clear out the emails:

Miss Young:

I disagree with your viewers who say that Dave Clark (of KTVU) sucks! Or whatever silly word was used to
describe Mr. Clark. He is well qualified with a lot of experience! I think most of the Bay Area viewers are borderline racist! They only tolerate Dennis Richmond as a main anchor…there are no others! As for Mark C., I was an intern there 8 years ago when he would sub or work as a morning reporter! He was a jerk! He arrived there from his DC post in ’98 or ’99! He has not been at KTVU for 14 years! That is a lie!

Andre’

Dave Clark

And here’s another email from a reader:

While I am not sure why Mark Curtis has been demoted, it does no matter, what is ironic is that you would demote what seems to be a light hearted individual and continue to inflict pain..forcing us to watch Dennis. So why are more people are choosing the internet, CNN and radio for their news choices? We hear personality and do not have to see pancake make-up!

Another Oakland viewer, back to ABC

Mark Curtis