OnTV: ‘Law and Order: Criminal Intent’ Gets Sticky
Detectives Logan and Wheeler Flip for Former Blade Star Kirk “Sticky Fingaz” Jones
I sometimes honestly despise television executives, those faceless and nameless beings who, 99.99 percent of the time, wield colossal control over what we, the hapless viewing public, have access to see on television. Case in point: Spike TV, basic cable’s formerly self-professed “channel for men” (they’ve since distanced themselves from that earlier Lifetime-ish slogan), which unceremoniously dumped one of the best new shows to enter the ring last summer, Blade: The Series. Apparently, I was the only person watching this absorbing, provocative adaptation of the three cinematic Blade films starring Wesley Snipes since Spike seemed to believe that viewership was not sufficiently large to make its first ever original series worth keeping and nurturing for at least a second season.
Call me dumb, but I think if you’re bold and ambitious enough to downsize a comic book and film franchise of Blade‘s enduring reputation and longevity for the small screen in the first place, you kind of owe it to yourself (and the lone viewer) to give the show a fighting chance and not abandon it at the first sign that the public—most of which is probably not even aware that Spike TV airs anything besides CSI: Crime Scene Investigation repeats, assorted dating- and sports-oriented shows, sleazy phone sex and girlie video ads, and boorish, vapid half-hour “comedies,” if they’re aware of the channel at all—is not flocking to it. —Sigh—
All of this whining is bringing me around to the fact that fans of the short-lived series have something to look forward to tonight when Kirk “Sticky Fingaz” Jones, the actor who played the title role in Blade: The Series, drops by Law & Order: Criminal Intent for a guest stint as an undercover brother, I mean cop. His role infiltrating the urban hip-hop world shouldn’t be too much of a stretch since Sticky actually was and is a rapper, dating all the way back to his hardcore hip-hop group Onyx, which hails from my hometown Queens, New York. While I’m watching L&O: CI, I’ll be lamenting the stupid decisions that naive network execs make about worthy television shows. And they wonder why so many people are increasingly turning to TV-on-DVD, torrents, and online sites.
Other hip-hop and New York notables featured in tonight’s 9pm episode “Flipped” include Fab Five Freddy from my other, first hometown, Brooklyn, and Harlem’s Bokeem Woodbine (who also guest starred twice on Blade: The Series). This one sounds just like old times to me.
Other New Stuff on TV Tonight
- American Idol—THE HOLLYWOOD ROUND: What? After all of those horrific auditions, someone really actually made it to Hollywood? I thought Simon Scow-ell and company were just putting us on as an excuse to mock the hordes of people with delusions of talent for our viewing (dis)pleasure. Maybe we can start getting down to business now. [Fox/8:00]
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit—DEPENDENT: Everwood fans, rejoice! That’s our very own sweet, annoying Amy Nicole Abbott (Emily VanCamp) playing a violent, petulant, drug-addled, suspected mommy-killing sixteen year old. Oh, my gawd. As Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx) used to say on Sanford and Son, I feel a “big one” coming on. Okay, maybe not that big, since Amy had her aspiring druggie days on Everwood, as well. Hopefully, VanCamp’s new regular role on ABC’s Sunday-night rookie hit Brothers & Sisters will be less bratty and more catty, I mean complex. [NBC/10:00]
- Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show—CLOSING NIGHT: Dogs, dogs, dogs, and yet more dogs, straight from New York’s Madison Square Garden. [USA/8:00]
- ABC: Primetime (9:00); Boston Legal (10:00)
- A&E: King of Cars (11:00/11:30)
- Bravo: The Real Housewives of Orange County (10:00)
- CBS: NCIS (8:00); The Unit (9:00/10:00)
- The CW: Gilmore Girls (8:00); Veronica Mars (9:00)
- Discovery: Really Big Things (8:00); Survive This (10:00/10:30)
- ESPN: College Basketball (7:00/9:00)
- FX: Dirt (10:00)
- Food Network: Rachael Ray’s Tasty Travels (10:30)
- Fox: American Idol (8:00); House (9:00)
- HGTV: Decorating Cents (9:00)
- History: Ancient Discoveries (9:00)
- MTV: Road Rules (9:00); Bam’s Unholy Union (9:30); Two-A-Days (10:00); Wrestling Society X (10:30)
- MyNet: Wicked Wicked Games (8:00); Watch Over Me (9:00)
- NBC: Dateline NBC (8:00); Law & Order: Criminal Intent (9:00); Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (10:00)
- Oxygen: The Bad Girls Club (10:00); The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency (10:30)
- PBS: NOVA (8:00*); Frontline (9:00*)
- Sci Fi: ECW (10:00)
- TLC: Miami Ink (10:00)
- USA: Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show (8:00)
*All PBS times may vary—Check your local listings to verify them
All times are PM and EST/Eastern Standard Time
Sticky Fingaz Blade photo courtesy of Spike TV
Law & Order: Criminal Intent photo courtesy of NBC
