Off-Net

Summer television, in the past, could have been likened to an arid patch within a vast wasteland, but that was when there were only three networks and UHF. If you weren't a baseball fan, there were network reruns and nothing much else. The landscape has changed radically in a few decades, and ironically, there are only a smattering of reruns being broadcast by the major nets during the summer. They now do that during the winter. Instead the nets have thrown what little money they can at budget-conscious reality and game shows, and have pretty much lost me completely. After the long and unsatisfying haul of "American Idol" I cannot abide any more talent-competitions-with-three-judge panels. I have tried to sit through the awkward "On the Lot," with the boobilicious hostess, whose breasts are more memorable than anything the would-be directors concoct each week. And the only adventure reality show that piqued any interest, the "Pirate Master" cousin of "Survivor", fared so badly that CBS relegated it to its on-line site.

But with all of that I have been busy programming by DVR with a slew of off-beat and interesting series that are being produced by the more audacious pay and basic-cable channels. This not only includes the annual offerings by HBO and Showtime like "Weeds" (excellent) and "Entourage" (lacking in conflict but tolerable because of Jeremy Piven), but intriguing and involving hour-longs such as "Eureka," "The Dead Zone," "The 4400," "Mad Men" and the miniseries "The Company" and "The Bronx is Burning". I have not even included well-done fare such as "Damages," an intense legal drama with Glenn Close as a dog-killing attorney. It is the dog-killing--a tactical act to gain the support of a recalcitrant witness--that cut me off emotionally from the show. Cannot abide a character who'd do that, so I'll have to pass up the experience of good storytelling therein.

"Mad Men" is a production of AMC, who alienated us all by starting to insert commercial breaks in their movie telecasts. This show almost makes up for it. Like "Damages" it has few sympathetic characters, but its portrayals of casual sexism and racism in the New York City of 1960 is dead-on authentic, even down to the sounds emanating from the black-and-white TVs. It is written and produced primarily by a former "Sopranos" scribe who penned the pilot as a spec many years ago. Good for him. I hope he can carry this show through the entire decade---there will be a lot of changes to experience.

I've been satisfying my sci-fi appetite for years with the inconsistent but intriguing "Dead Zone" and "4400," though I get the feeling the staffs are struggling to find an end-game to their story arcs. "The Dead Zone" was an excellent Stephen King novel and a fine David Cronenberg film with a complete story line that ended with the protagonists sacrificial death. That's not likely to happen as long as the protagonist is played by the executive producer Anthony Michael Hall. "The 4400" started as an alien abduction mystery but has transmogrified into a quasi-"Heroes" series about the effects of superpowers arbitrarily obtained by characters through a vaccination of a potentially fatal concoction called "Promycin." This does provide a wealth of episodic story lines, but I'm wondering if, with "Heroes," "X-Men" and "4400," this well is being tapped too rigorously.

Less pretentious is the comedy-drama "Eureka," set in a town of geniuses funded by the Powers That Be. It's refreshing to see a show about intelligent people, and the audience surrogate hero, played by Colin Ferguson as the sheriff whose IQ is only 111, is an amiable chap. The playful tone of the show, with an underlying frisson suggesting dire powers that could overwhelm Creation, produces a satisfying blend of tones.

But nothing could be as satisfying to me as the first ESPN miniseries "The Bronx Is Burning." Despite flaws in its storytelling--its involvement with the Son of Sam case, the blackout, and the mayoral race of 1977--its emphasis on the Yankee Championship season, their first since 1962--evoked delightful memories for this Yankee fan and serves as a palliative for the struggling team that is grasping for play-off contention this season. How nice to relive the intense pennant play-off with Kansas City, and I just can't wait to see Daniel Sunjata as Reggie Jackson slam those three homers against the Dodgers in the decisive Game Six. The depictions of Yankee characters range in skill and authenticity. Oliver Platt seems a bit too buffoonish for George Steinbrenner, but John Turturro's Billy Martin is right on, despite the distracting Vulcan ears. Sunjata's Reggie Jackson is a little slick (though it's always fun for me to see a portrayal of somebody I actually know). There are two underrated performances here that are worth mentioning. Joe Grifasi does not resemble Yogi Berra so much, but his vocal rendition is astoundingly authentic. And Erik Jensen's Thurman Munson is so dead-on that he seems to have been resurrected, and it almost chokes me up. But what's with Alan Ruck and his awful hair? There's a career that's gone nowhere fast since Ferris Bueller had his day off.

Oh--while on the subject--I just read Terry's request for a comment about Phil Rizzuto. Yeah. I listened to and watched him for so many years as a young Yankee fan. I do not know if he was a class act or not, but I did briefly exchange words with him. It was between games of a doubleheader at the Stadium, maybe around 1961 or so, and a friend and I sitting behind him noticed him alone in the broadcast booth. We asked him for an autograph and he replied "After the game." We never got it. He is forgiven.