Daisy Does America

TBS, Tuesdays, 10p.m.

A few years ago, there was a show on Britain’s Channel 4 called “The Eleven O’Clock Show.” It was a spoof news program in the same vein as the news correspondents’ reports on “The Daily Show.” Though you may not have heard of the show, its roster was deep with talent: Both Sacha Baron Cohen (aka “Ali G”) and Ricky Gervais (David Brent of TV’s “The Office” and current star of “Extras”) were regular contributors.

You also probably haven’t heard of Daisy Donovan, another Brit who got her start as a presenter on the “Eleven O’Clock Show.” Well, thanks to Courtney Cox and David Arquette, she’s got a show all her own on TBS.

It’s a sort of reality-comedy hybrid. Daisy is traveling from New York to L.A., and trying a series of careers and experiences along the way, the first being that of a bounty hunter. The setup is very similar to Cohen’s “Borat” character sequences from “Da Ali G Show” —most of the humor comes from back-road and eccentric Americans saying and doing ridiculous things.

It’s a little more “reality” when, in this week’s episode, Daisy becomes a bounty hunter, she doesn’t just go to training camp (as Ali G did when he visited the Philadelphia Police academy in a memorable episode), but she actually puts the handcuffs on two bail fugitives. While in premise it’s a bit similar to “The Simple Life,” the biggest difference is that unlike that show’s two stars, Donovan isn’t an utter moron.

She manages, like Borat, to maneuver her way into extracting some sometimes very funny lines from her totally ignorant new American friends. It’s not as funny as Borat’s legendary expeditions to the USA, but for a start, it’s good (especially for a show on, yes, TBS). Donovan is quite appealing, and, of course, not short on that famous Brit wit.

—Alexander C. Britell



Lost

ABC, Wednesdays, 9p.m.

So you want to know Kate’s (Evangeline Lilly) secret? You want to know why on earth she has been seen canoodling with former-hobbit Charlie. Oh wait, that’s Lilly’s real life.

Back to the show, we learn that the reason Kate was hounded by the cops was because she blew up her father’s home, while he was inside. A patricidal arsonist? Now that, my friends, is badass.

Kate’s flashbacks all unravel as she takes care of Sawyer. Prior to sitting at Sawyer’s bedside, she saw a Black Horse galloping through the island. Initially I wasn’t sure if it was real or a dream. After all, I used to dream about ponies. And, coincidentally, Matthew Fox—dude was a cutie back when “Party of Five” was still a party I frequented.

Kate’s father, Wayne, was a drunkard who beat her mother and looked at Kate with a romantic eye. A resounding “eww!” from the audience is appropriate here.

Now, Kate starts to talk to Sawyer, who still isn’t entirely awake. I guess her soothing voice has therapeutic advantages because he wakes up with a vendetta. He clutches Kate’s throat and asks her why she killed him.

Wait, Wayne is possessing Sawyer? Is this “Lost” or “Ghost Whisperer”?

This incident prompts her to run the hell away, into the arms of Jack. And the two share a passionate kiss. That lucky bitch.

Anyways, Kate goes back to Sawyer, who is still not fully conscious. She begins by talking to Wayne, confessing that when she feels anything for Sawyer she sees a part of Wayne in him. And the reason she killed him was because she couldn’t stand being a part of him. This is all way too Freudian for me.

Back in the hatch, we discover the other half of the Dharma Initiative video, which instructs its viewers not to use the computer for anything but inputting the numbers. And the last shot we see is Michael typing into the computer to a mysterious being at the other end. The last text shown on the screen is “Dad?”

Does this mean it’s the triumphant return of Walt? Knowing this show, probably not. Quit phunking with my heart, “Lost!”

—Jessica C. Coggins



The OC

FOX Thursdays, 8p.m.



In last week’s episode, academics were discussed for the first time in three seasons. Say what?! Yeah…that’s right…this week’s show was about college.

Seth and Sandy had a sentimental mini-conflict: Seth wants to go to Brown, and Sandy was pushing him toward Berkeley. It was all tidily resolved as Sandy accepted his son’s desire to etch his own path, and Summer left behind her West-Coast dreams and decided to apply to Providence College—a school only 20 minutes away from Seth’s desired destination. Convenient, no?

Taylor encouraged Summer to do so, after the two had a heart-to-heart. Sadly, I think their final interaction in this episode signaled the fact that Taylor will no longer be an antagonist for the S-S twosome. For me, this fact is disappointing. “The OC” is more fun when there are villains around. Let’s see…we’ve lost: Luke, Oliver, Julie (the uber-bitch version), Caleb, Trey, and Jeri Ryan’s beastly Charlotte. And that’s only some of them! We need some evil again, folks!

Time itself was treated as evil in this episode, as the writers blatantly defied it through their complete lack of realism. So, here’s a similarly super-speedy summary of what happened with Ryan/Marissa: Marissa’s all like “Oh no…I can’t go to college…I shot someone,” Ryan and Johnny tell her that she should go see a counselor, she sees the counselor, she writes a college essay, she throws it away, Johnny changes his mind and confirms Marissa’s plan to not go to college, he gets hit by a car and Ryan’s sort of to blame, Marissa gets mad at Ryan, and then Marissa decides to go to college again. I have nothing to say…except that that is at least four bad episodes’ worth of material there. Simply tragic.

All was not lost. In the middle of the show, Mischa Barton got to show off her acting chops. And they weren’t as tasteless as I had predicted! As Marissa sat down to write that aforementioned college essay about shooting Trey, she had a mental fit—complemented by flashbacks from the highlights (can you really call a murder a “highlight,” though?) of last season. When the scene started, I thought it was going to be really hokey, but it was a little bit…dare I say it?...touching. (Insert vomit here.) Oh Mischa, the things you do to me!

The past three episodes have each had a defining dramatic moment of this kind: Marissa’s nightmare about the shooting; Ryan’s punching-bag fiasco; and this kaleidoscopic flashback. Even though this one was effective, the act needs to stop.

Seriously, what’s next? Will Julie be overcome by a flood of repressed memories from her trailer-park childhood? If that prediction materializes, I’m so money…and so incredibly sad.

—Kevin Ferguson