Posted on: Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Tube Notes
By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service
Tonight's Must-See
"The West Wing," 8 p.m., NBC. Last week's compelling season-opener painted powerful strokes. After emergency surgery, Donna was recovering from the Mideast bomb blast that killed two congressmen and a general. Meanwhile, staffers pressured President Bartlet to retaliate. Bartlet refused and patched together some peace talks. Leo vehemently objected. The talks wobble; a catastrophe for Leo will change the administration. "Drawn Together," 7:30, 9:30 p.m., Comedy Central. Boldly billed as the first animated reality show, this is a delight. Eight cartoon characters — ranging from a clueless superhero to an aging Betty Boop knock-off — share a house. Sparks fly. No one likes Spanky Ham, the foul pig. Foxxy Love, the sexy, crime-solving musician, dislikes Clara, the biased princess. That leads to a scene with Foxxy and Clara (Cree Summer and Tara Strong) that viewers will consider hilarious, tasteless or both. Of Note
World Series, 2 p.m., Fox. Here is the fourth game of the best-of-seven series. "The Color Purple" (1985), 5 p.m., TNT. Alice Walker's harsh, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was modified by the beauty of Steven Spielberg's direction and Quincy Jones' music. Amid 40 painful years for Southern blacks, a brilliant cast — led by Whoopi Goldberg, Akosua Busia, Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey — finds glowing moments of triumph. "Lost," 7 p.m., ABC. Here is a new crisis for the survivors. Jack (Matthew Fox) feels the group should move to an inland site that has good water. Others want to stay near the coast, hoping for a rescue. "Alvin & the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein" (1999), 8 p.m., Disney Channel; and "Frankenstein" (2004), 9 p.m., Hallmark Channel. The Hallmark film, the second half of a miniseries, tries to faithfully adapt Mary Shelley's book. The Disney one doesn't — we're pretty sure Shelley didn't include any singing chipmunks. "Center of the Universe" debut, 8:30 p.m., CBS. CBS has scheduled this debut three times and then delayed it. Maybe the networks hope viewers will forget the reviews, which point out that the show — despite a fine cast of John Goodman, Jean Smart, Ed Asner and Olympia Dukakis — is a dud. "CSI: NY," 9 p.m., CBS. In a pre-Halloween touch, a woman has been killed with a wooden stake.
