LOST is a Great Prime Time Find

In response to the terrific job cable channels such as FX have been doing with gritty, glitzy shows like Nip/Tuck and Rescue Me, ABC has rolled out a fall line up worthy of viewing. LOST, Desperate Housewives and Boston Legal top the charts as shows worthy of a weekly viewing and a far cut above the trash reality shows that are thankfully finally fading from view.

Headlined by LOTR Dominique Monaghan, LOST is no survivor wannabe. Instead, all the survivors on this island are flawed, deeply troubled beings who have nothing in common but the hope to survive the crash that stranded them on a mysterious island. Oh, sure, authorities are looking for the downed plane and survivors alright, but electronic malfunctions mean that they are looking for everyone a thousand miles away. This ought to be good for a couple of seasons if nothing else. Monaghan comes across surprisingly subtle and vulnerable for such a young actor, who's only claim to fame is really having played a sunny, somewhat comic role of a hobbit in LOTR. Here he portrays Charlie, a lost and fragile addict who's stash of cocaine is going to run out pretty soon and who is probably going to go through some horrific withdrawals. For Monaghan's character this is going to be worse than an intervention and forced trip to the Betty Ford clinic. Welcome to Detox Island, dude.

Matthew Fox plays the hapless Dr. Jack who is still spending way too much time stitching up battered castaways and trying to find himself in the process. Evangeline Lilly is the mysterious beauty with the bad past and the good luck to have her Federal Officer die as a result of his wounds. She's out of handcuffs but not talking much though younger male viewers will appreciate every single time she heads for the surf and disrobes.
Another bright spot is provided by Jorge Garcia who plays everyman Hurley. His affable nature and laid back style are a welcome relief to some of the more intense characters that roam the beach.

Most interesting are the dynamics between Jin, played by Daniel Dae Kim, and Sun played by newcomer to American television Yunjin Kim. As his abused wife, Kim is both defiant and touchingly vulnerable. The duo provide an interesting subplot made all the more fascinating because their characters don't speak English. All the dynamics between the Korean couple must be communicated in other ways and the two are hugely successful and intriguing. Kim, as Buffy/Angel fans may recall, played evil attorney Gavin Park on Angel. However, nothing is lost in the dynamics of their struggle and the fact that they are so intense, speaking only Korean to an American audience who rarely tolerates anything but E-N-G-L-I-S-H is one of the shows biggest successes. Another push for the show is the casting of Naveen Andrews as the Middle Easterner Sayid who is suspiciously skilled with electronics yet politely refuses to apologize for his heritage or spend time proving he isn't a terrorist. The rest of the characters, which continue to flesh out as the weeks unfold, promise to entertain and fascinate. Everyone has a secret on this island, even the survivors who haven't shown up yet. Stay tuned, this one is a keeper.

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Desperate Housewives Is Desperately Funny

Marcia Cross plays the frankly Obsessive Compulsive Bree Van De Kamp, a red headed perfectionist foiled by Steven Culp as Rex Van De Kamp her ungrateful and persnickety husband. Teri Hatcher is looking for love, Felicity Huffman Lynette Scavo suffers endlessly with a brood of monster kids and Eva Longoria Gabrielle shines as Solis the golddigger cheating on her spouse (tough going as she gets her share of steamy love scenes with Jesse Metcalfe who plays John the landscaper hottie.) Oh, and let us not forget the woman we all love to hate, Nicollette Sheridan as Edie Britt nasty sneaky bimbo extraordinare. What the men of Boston Legal do for their time slot, the women of Desperate Housewives do for this show. These fluffy birds have more problems than most of us see in a lifetime, all augmented by their deceased neighbor's lively commentary, presumably culled from wisdom gleaned from the other side of the nether world cu-de-sac.

The show is part camp, part bizarre, part wild ride that most working women have no time to so much as conjure up, must less live. The men take a back seat, just ear and eye candy really, while the women scheme, panic, lust and manipulate their way though a series of unlikely sub-plots. Pure entertainment is the result as well as pure fantasy because as all working women, even those from the 'burbs know, nobody who actually works for a living has the time for such outrageous fun.