Lost Weekend

After spending a fair amount of time this weekend catching up on stuff on the DVR, I have to say I was mostly underwhelmed. The lineup:

* The National Geographic Channel special on the Gospel of Judas, the restoration of which was partially funded by the NGS. I can only hope that the article in the latest issue of the magazine is less repetitive and dull than the special, which seemed like 40 minutes of material stuffed into 120 minutes of show. It was very disappointing.

* "Requiem," the episode of The West Wing that seemed like it was going to focus on the passing of Leo McGarry but spent a lot of time on transition issues. The best parts of the episode focused on Leo and on interplay between original cast members, which should have gotten the entire hour. The subplot on the Speaker of the House election could have waited a week.

* Sticking with the executive branch, the return of Commander in Chief was as disappointing as Aaron Barnhart's review indicated. I imagine it's a short list of shows that have a lead win a Golden Globe and still get cancelled in its first year, but there's a real chance that list will grow. Which is too bad; they're wasting a good cast.

* The first two episodes of Thief, a new FX drama starring Andre Braugher. It may still grow on me, but I had a lingering feeling that I was missing something as I watched.

* Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy both had clip shows last night. Why are they still doing this? I can perhaps forgive the latter show - they need to educate folks who've started watching since the Super Bowl - but Housewives? That's just padding.

On the plus side, we did catch up with 24, which is still implausibly delicious, and we got to see Ace Young get the boot on American Idol, which was a long time coming, even if Kellie Pickler was more deserving of the boot after her admitted butchering of "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered." Oh, and playoff hockey on OLN has been pretty good, especially as their second game "bonus coverage" seems to be taken right from the CBC - logo and all.