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It’s that time again: previews for the 2011-2011 tv season.  Check out James Poniewozik’s post at Time.com about NBC previews, which, after checking them on-line at nbc.com, strangely intrigue me.  But, that’s the trouble of previews – they’re just previews.

Poniewozik’s analysis of NBC’s previews also hits on some of my concerns (besides the whole Donald Trump’s-only-out-for-Trump business).

For instance, as much as Maria Bello is fascinating as Detective Jane Timoney in the American network version of “Prime Suspect” in contemporary NYC, I’m a little disturbed.

So, there’s a name change.  Ok.  And American Jane brandishes a gun, which the original British Detective Inspector (later Superintendent) Jane Tennison  – as played by Helen Mirren – wouldn’t really do that (well, because it’s more of a British thing).  And, Bello as Jane – in the preview anyway – isn’t nearly as self-destructive as Mirren as Jane (Jane Tennison kept failing with men; it got too sad to watch.  Actually, I fell so behind on watching “Prime Suspect,” so perhaps I shouldn’t say what was sad about Tennison).

And, I’m not saying that a NYPD homicide unit isn’t sexist – it might very well be; but is it so masculine as to hate women in their midst, when it’s 2011?  Why wouldn’t the men mask their bastard behavior just a bit more? (as if we hadn’t learned anything from years of “Law and Order” and “NYPD Blue”).

And, it’s really weird to see Kirk Acevedo in the “Prime Suspect” preview, because he was so recently Alternate Charlie on “Fringe” and, seeing him with the blonde Bello – well, it does look an awful lot like a redux of Charlie and Olivia from the first season of “Fringe.”

And, if “Prime Suspect” gets picked up for a full season, will/can Acevedo still make a guest appearance on “Fringe” as Alternate Charlie (or even a non-dead Charlie, because time-traveling is a bitch, after all?).  I’d hate for Acevedo to lose a chance at weird tv. And, according to his profile on imdb.com, he’s part Chinese, so I’m all for representation and diversity on tv.

“Grimm” could have been more interesting in its preview about a series of a modern day cop who finds out that he’s from a long line of Grimms, people who fight (were)wolves (and he seems to befriend one anyway; huh?).  I couldn’t really tell from the preview and I’m never sure of what to think when NBC makes a stab at fantasy/sci-fi (they find a way to botch it).

The preview for “Awake” looks great – a bit of detective story with inter-dimensional/philosophical/dream versus reality and which is which.  And… Jason Isaacs as the lead! (continuing the trend of Brits as Americans; but he’s done it very well for quite awhile now (see the ex. of “Brotherhood“).  Plus, he’s clearly available after the end of the Harry Potter series anyway.

But, as tv critic Alan Sepinwall notes: “Awake” is made by “Lone Star” creator Kyle Killen.  And, “Lone Star” looked good – but couldn’t last as a series (as I’ve noted previously (and when it first aired)).  I wonder if “Awake” is going to be the same – sure it’s high-concept, but its staying power for purposes of a series is another story.  And, Sepinwall’s right – previews aren’t exactly the best ways to judge the potential of a tv show.

Also, over at Entertainment Weekly, check out Ken Tucker’s commentary about the NBC previews (I like his take – pretty even-handed about “Grimm” and I totally agree about the out-of-era sexism of “Prime Suspect”), about the FOX previews (the un-evenness is making it that, yeah, I think I’ll only watch “Fringe” on FOX, unless this new Abrams show is somehow fascinating), and about the ABC previews (another fairy tale show?  why is it that NBC and ABC keep trying to vie with each other – “Community” vs. “Modern Family” and now this?).

I have to say, following the travails of the NFL lockout has been fascinating for all these legal gambits (and yet another opportunity for mediation – assuming the parties will negotiate in good faith). Crazy, though…

The passing of Edward Hardwicke, who played Dr. Watson to Jeremy Brett’s Holmes; now, both men are gone. I grew up watching those episodes on PBS, when “Mystery!” was not under the “Masterpiece” umbrella. Edward Hardwicke was also the reader for Sherlock Holmes audiobooks (check out his imdb page – I honestly wouldn’t have thought that he did a voice in the Lara Croft game).

The passing of Murray Handwerker, the son of Nathan Handwerker – of Nathan’s (hot dog) fame.

Is it Spring Yet?

Supposedly, it’s spring.

Thanks to the annual NCAA Men’s Basketball March Madness, my brackets are completely a mess. Pittsburgh’s out, as are much of the Big East. Me and my Big East sentiments. And, I didn’t pick Princeton, but I did kind of rooted for them (had to support the Ivy League); then again, who were we kidding? Cornell’s amazing run of last year couldn’t possibly be repeated.

But, the Princeton kids seemed like a good bunch, playing in memory of their young fan, who had passed away due to cancer. Plus, before last year’s Cornell was that other amazing Ivy League upsetters – the Princeton team of 1995-1996, in the 1996 March Madness; a nice commemoration over at Time.com by Sean Gregory, who was a member of that team.

Re: the APA legal community – Judge Edward Chen gets another go-around with the Senate confirmation hearings for a federal judgeship.

YC linked to this on Facebook; I’m forwarding it along: perhaps the tv series “Outsourced” on NBC isn’t that offensive, as Geetika Tandon Lizardi suggests in an op-ed in the LA Times? I don’t know – when I catch a little of it, I find myself wishing it were more funny. I want so badly for talented Asians/Asian Americans to have a shot on mainstream tv, whether in writing, producing, or acting (Parvesh Cheena is seriously talented; I liked him in other roles), but then again, with sitcoms, sometimes it does take time and development. I guess NBC’s giving it a shot; what else can it possibly air, after all? (certainly something far worse).

NASA’s Messenger has finally made it to Mercury.

Thought this article on Newsweek.com about George H.W. Bush was fascinating to show how a different perspective might change the way we think about a president that was perceived to be “weak” (and who was far more strong and wise than we thought at the time).

Mother Nature

The devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Scary news, regarding the effects of these natural events toward Japan’s nuclear power plants.

NY Times’ Nicholas Kristof observes his sympathy and admiration of Japan, under these circumstances. He had been the Tokyo bureau chief for the Times and so he has some experience about his perceptions of the Japanese:

Uncomplaining, collective resilience is steeped into the Japanese soul. We sent our eldest son to Japanese school briefly, and I’ll never forget seeing all the little kids having to go to school in shorts even in the dead of winter. The idea was that it built character. I thought it just gave kids colds. But it was one more effort to instill “gaman.” And it’s “gaman” that helped Japan recovered from World War II and tolerated the “lost decade” after the bubble economy burst in about 1990. Indeed, it might be better if Japanese complained a bit more – perhaps then their politicians would be more responsive.

One factor may also have to do with our relationship with nature. Americans see themselves as in confrontation with nature, taming it. In contrast, the Japanese conception is that humans are simply one part of nature, riding its tides — including many, many earthquakes throughout history. The Kanto earthquake of 1923 killed more than 100,000 people. The Japanese word for nature, shizen, is a modern one, dating back only a bit more than 100 years, because traditionally there was no need to express the concept. In an essay in the Times after the [1995] Kobe quake, I made some of these same points and ended with a 17th century haiku from one of Japan’s greatest poets, Basho:

The vicissitudes of life.
Sad, to become finally
A bamboo shoot.

I find something noble and courageous in Japan’s resilience and perseverance, and it will be on display in the coming days. This will also be a time when the tight knit of Japan’s social fabric, its toughness and resilience, shine through. And my hunch is that the Japanese will, by and large, work together — something of a contrast to the polarization and bickering and dog-eat-dog model of politics now on display from Wisconsin to Washington. So maybe we can learn just a little bit from Japan. In short, our hearts go out to Japan, and we extend our deepest sympathy for the tragic quake. But also, our deepest admiration.

I’m not sure about how to react to the tv coverage of the news so far, as I haven’t gotten to watch much of it. James Poniewozik at Time posts on the concern about how coverage is successful (or not) with the networks having cut back on their foreign bureaus and so coverage is due to the social network/Internet/cell phone systems.

I kind of expected more from “Nightline” than seeing Bill Weir at Santa Monica, CA, about a tsunami wave that didn’t devastate mainland USA; then, he spent a few minutes talking to the ABC Tokyo bureau correspondent; glad that they at least still have a bureau.

Nice that PBS Newshour does some context about the tsunami’s effect on the Pacific Rim; it’s good to hear that Hawaii has gotten better experience with these situations (after last year’s threat from the Chilean earthquake).

The images of the tsunami in Japan, though, are horrifyingly devastating. “Devastate” becomes a word used so often, it nearly becomes a cliche. But, I’m not sure what else one can say.

ABC did turn to Dr. Michio Kaku for scientific context about the earthquake and tsunami. I like how he explains things.

The troubling 21st Century continues.