Monday: Lost
It’s a tradition for Lost fans to re-watch the previous season before a new season airs. But it’s probably been a while since any of us have revisited the two-part pilot that sent us all down the rabbit hole of the Dharma Initiative, the black smoke monster, Ben Linus, Jack/Kate/Sawyer and everything else. (Similarly, if you never gave the show a chance, try it now! Please!) The Sci-Fi channel will air both parts tonight. Watch for Matthew Fox’s signature move: the half-cry. No one’s eyes can well up with
Tuesday: Gavin & Stacey
American television sorely lacks genuinely funny—and non-stereotyping—relationship sitcoms (How I Met Your Mother stands out to us as the sole exception). So we find ourselves ridiculously excited each week for BBC America’s Gavin & Stacey, which is dirty, hilarious and totally charming. Stacey is a Welsh girl with a number of failed engagements under her belt; Gavin is her London-dwelling beau who proposes on their first date. (They met through work, talking on the phone.) Of course, and unfortunately, there’s already discussion of an American adaptation of this show. See the original before we get the inevitably tame, fruit loop version. [BBC America, 8:40 p.m.]
Wednesday: Sons of Anarchy
No, seriously, we’re nuts about this Hamlet-inspired show about a biker gang in California! Charlie Hunnam (the blond cutie of the underwatched Apatow sitcom Undeclared) stars as Jackson "Jax" Teller, the son of a gangleader who’s ambivalent about the direction his dad’s legacy is taking. (Guns instead of drugs, basically.) Married with Children‘s Katy Sagal—who gets more beautiful and better with each role—is Jax’s mom, who took up with second-in-line gang boss Clay (Ron Perlman) after her husband’s death (which she may or may not have orchestrated? Too early to tell!). There’s also a drug baby, a hot doctor from Jax’s past, and a bunch of good-hearted biker dudes, just trying to pay their bills and stay out of jail. Don’t be put off by the faux-gritty title sequence. Sons of Anarchy is plenty smart enough for you. [FX, 10 p.m.]
Thursday: I Heart Huckabees
We love David O. Russell (even Spanking the Monkey), but this may be our favorite if only for the performance of Mark Wahlberg as Tommy Corn, a firefighter who is also a crazy anti-petroleum environmental activist. He should have had an Oscar nod. That’s all we’ll tell you. [IFC, 6 a.m.]
Friday: Maxed Out
We haven’t seen James Scurlock’s documentary about predatory lending and credit card debt, but we read his book of the same name and were blown away. (We even served on a book prize that gave him $10,000 for truthtelling!) Maxed Out travels the country, exposing both just how evil banks are and how naive Americans are when it comes to spending and using credit. If you have debt yourself, you’ll take cold comfort in seeing that a lot of folks are worse off than you. If you don’t, you’ll be even more glad than you already are. [Showtime, 3 p.m.]
