Seven days, seven chances to attain sweet, sweet television nirvana. In this week’s Best of Seven, we give you every excuse to sit on the couch and veg out while you patiently await the Friday opening of director Christopher Nolan’s much-anticipated (and already critically-praised) Inception – this summer’s Twilight: Eclipse for adults and other people with brains.
Monday
7PM-9PM: Tosh.0, Comedy Central. Comedian Daniel Tosh’s sarcasm-laden celebration of viral videos, YouTube celebrities, and other pop-culture ephemera has become one of the highest-rated shows in its time slot, reportedly nabbing almost 2.5 million viewers last week, surpassing both Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s ratings. It’s America’s Funniest Home Videos for the Twitter generation, and it’s not too late to jump on the bandwagon: you can catch four Tosh.0 episodes in a row Monday night, right before another 2-hour block (9PM-11PM) of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (including the hilarious two-part ‘The Gang Gets Whacked’ episode and ‘Dennis Looks Like a Registered Sex Offender’).
8PM: Ratatouille, Disney Channel. If gross-out humor (Tosh.0 and It’s Always Sunny) isn’t your thing, enjoy Disney/Pixar’s charming 2007 computer-animated story of a rat who dreams of cooking in a Parisian restaurant. Won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Tuesday
8:30PM: R. Kelly’s Trapped in the Closet, IFC. Did you know that singer-songwriter R. Kelly wrote a heartbreaking, 22-part rock-opera in 2005 and 2007, about the perils of one-night stands and the difficulties of keeping it real? Well, he did, and it’s sort of kind of brilliant in it’s own bizarre way. Start watching this and I guarantee you’ll find yourself weirdly mesmerized by R. Kelly’s operatic tale, much of which takes place in a closet, natch.
10PM: Curb Your Enthusiasm, TV Guide Channel. In ‘The Shrimp Incident,’ Larry David (Seinfeld creator Larry David) suspects that HBO executive Allan Wasserman has stolen some shrimp out of his Chinese food.
6PM – Midnight: This is not an endorsement, but if you’re interested, apparently the Discovery Health channel has all baby-related programming for a whole six-hour block. Seriously. Hour after hour of Big Babies, and I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant, and so on. A bit of research revealed that this is not, in fact, a singular phenomenon, but a relatively frequent occurrence on Discovery Health and TLC (this Wednesday). Who on Earth is watching this much baby-based programming? Possibly the same people who are watching Say Yes to the Dress in four hour blocks.
Wednesday
8PM: Chappelle’s Show, Comedy Central. 2 episodes chock-full of Dave Chappelle‘s signature combination of wit, gross-out humor, and biting social commentary back-to-back.
8PM: The Departed, FX. Director Martin Scorsese directs the hell out of this South-Boston set tale of one cop’s questionable loyalties (Matt Damon) and another’s blurring identity (Leonardo DiCaprio), centered around an organized crime gang led by Jack Nicholson. Inspired by the popular 2002 Hong Kong crime film Infernal Affairs. Won four Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Picture.
Thursday
6:25: Annie Hall, IFC. By far one of Woody Allen‘s best films, this 1977 comedy-drama stars the writer-director and Diane Keaton. The Best Picture winner follows the ups and downs of a long-term relationship between two mismatched New York neurotics.
9PM: Futurama, Comedy Central. A 3-hour Futurama comedy block!
11PM: Weird Science, VH1. The former music – now 80s nostalgia channel is airing the thoroughly odd (seriously, watch this movie while actually thinking about what is going on – notice the subtle racism and perverse sexual themes) 1985 John Hughes flick. Two high-school nerds computer-generate a hot babe to teach them how to meet girls, as well as have uncomfortable three-person showers. With Anthony Michael Hall.
Friday
6PM: Law and Order, TNT. Law and Order may be over, but it will be in syndication forever. Remember the halcyon days with a classic episode from 2004. In ‘Fixed,’ Fontana and Green reluctantly investigate after a motorist strikes a child-murderer and leaves him for dead, and the evidence they uncover leads McCoy to a startling discovery.
11PM: The Glades, A&E. The pilot episode of A&E’s new Florida-based crime drama The Glades re-airs at 11, if you missed the original premiere. The LA Times calls it “an accomplished if occasionally vexing affair,” so take that as you will.
Other: Inception comes out tonight!
Saturday
6PM: Avoid watching the HBO special ‘Inception: HBO First Look.’ Don’t watch it! You won’t want any spoilers when you enjoy Inception yourself, for the first or second time, on Saturday night. There is nothing else on TV tonight. Don’t even look. Just go watch this movie.
Sunday
Sunday nights are the reason to buy HBO, plain and simple.
9PM: True Blood, HBO. Alcide and Sookie (Anna Paquin) turn to a packmaster for advice on wow to deal with Russell’s minions; Tara considers a proposal from Ranklin; Joe Lee breaks his promise to Sam and Tommy; Jason meets a mysterious girl; an heirloom reminds Eric of his past.
10PM: Hung, HBO. Ray tries to prove to Darby and Damon that he is not an insensitive ex-jock; Tanya turns to Charlie for advice; Jessica feels the pinch of the economic downturn.
10:30PM: Entourage, HBO. Eric and Phil try to convince Drama that he has talent on the sitcom front; Ari (Jeremy Piven) resists Barbara’s urgings to have Lizzie promoted; Turtle is intrigued by a business proposal from Alex; Scott Lavin continues to ingratiate himself with Vince.
