We’ve got three shows to cover today, so let’s get to it.
Numb3rs
Friendly Rating: Middle school and older can enjoy it.
Safety Rating: Thanks so some nasty violence, definitely watch with.
Quality Rating: Excellent.
Tonight is the sixth season finale of Numb3rs – the procedural with the geek twist, about two brothers, one an FBI agent, the other a genius math professor, who help each other out to solve crimes. One of the sneakiest ways to get kids interested in math, it has been gotten problematic over the years, largely because of the body count at the end and the nastiness of the violence.
That being said, I’m noting this season finale because it may very well be the series finale. Officially (as of yesterday), the network hasn’t made any decision on it. But they cut the season order late last fall (or the number of episodes they would air), which is not a good sign.
And it wouldn’t be a bad thing if the series ended. As I noted, it has been getting increasingly violent and nasty. But I do enjoy learning about the math.
Minute to Win It
Friendly Rating: Truly and genuinely for all ages.
Safety Rating: Some borderline innuendo, but should fly over the heads of little ones.
Quality Rating: Better than you might think.
Two-hour premiere on NBC Sunday (3/14) at 7 p.m.
Hosted by the amiable Guy Fieri (of Food Network fame), contestants play short skill games of increasing difficulty in order to build up to a million dollar grand prize. The kicker is that all the games involve common household objects, and while some are rather silly, they are not easy.
The one thing that works against the show is that because the early games are easier, it’s not that interesting. Plus all the hype gets in the way. But Fieri does an excellent job cheering on the contestants and getting the viewer involved in the cheering on. He’s very encouraging.
Two other major pluses – the contestants are basically playing against themselves, so you don’t get any trash talking or nonsense like that. Secondly, you can play these games at home and, in fact, are encouraged to. Now some of it is because they want to increase their contestant pool. But who cares?
The link to the game list and how to play is buried on the NBC.com site (someone needs to tell their web designer), but here it is: http://www.nbc.com/minute-to-win-it/how-to/index.shtml. Even if you’re not interested in being on TV, you can still play the games and they look like fun – certainly more fun to play than watch someone else play them.
Sons of Tucson
Friendly Rating: Pretty much all ages, with parental accompaniment.
Safety Rating: Some minor sexual innuendo and language issues.
Quality Rating: Oddly likable.
Sunday night (3/14) at 9:30 p.m.
The three Gunderson boys have been one step ahead of child protective services all the way to Tucson from Jersey, where their father is in prison for stock fraud. Abandoned by their mother, they need someone to pose as their dad to get them into school without asking too many questions.
Enter ne’er-do-well Ron Snufkin (Taylor Labine acting and looking very much like Jack Black), a sporting goods employee living out of his car and in trouble with guys who fight with baseball bats.
Safety issues include some foul language, including bitch, and sex talk – Ron has gotten around. And there’s the reality that none of these characters behave all that well. Not surprisingly, the middle boy, Brandon (Matthew Levy) takes after his father’s con-man ways. Robby (Benjamin Stockham), the youngest, has some rather frightening anger issues, as well.
But for a story about four guys trying to make their way without any sort of moral compass, it’s rather fun. I think it’s because the show is more subtle than it appears. There’s a wonderful minute where the boys tell Ron their dad is in prison, and Ron makes the crack that their dad is a banker – and the boys just look at him. These kids are hurting and just trying to survive. Snufkin may be selfish, stupid and less than honest, but he isn’t mean. And he does try every now and then to be a good example. Sort of.
Just barely believable and more amusing than not, it’s an odd way of looking at what makes a family and works more often than not.
[...] silly games of increasing difficulty to win increasing amounts of cash. My review of the show is here – you do have to scroll down to get to it. But overall, it’s a very family friendly [...]