LaPlaca picks



Here's how I'll reclaim my title in the Alison LaPlaca TV Dead Pool. Also check out Tim's reasoning for his picks. James Dinan is also likely to give a rundown.



1. Everybody Loves Raymond - I have this pattern of picking the about-to-be canceled veteran-sitcoms one year too early. Two years ago I picked Friends, then the cast got moneywhipped into sticking around. Last year Friends finally went away, but I prematurely picked ELR. This year it seems certain.



2. NYPD Blue - will ABC burn me here and keep this for another year? We'll see.



3. Studio 7 - WB pulled the plug on this show, actually a summer series, just last week. But the final episode is scheduled to air tomorrow, which just barely makes it eligible under the LaPlaca rules.



4. Commando Nanny - stupid title, Mark Burnett's luck has to run out sooner or later, and Gerald McRaney's surgery is mucking up the premiere date. On the other hand, it's between two reliable sitcoms for the Frog.



5. Blue Collar TV - Reba's success notwithstanding, I'm not seeing much future in the WB's red-state programming. Maybe if this show was paired with Reba...but it's in the sacrificial Thursday slot opposite Survivor. Not much faith here.



6. Life As We Know It - My So-Called Life for guys? I don't know that guys were exactly clamoring for such a beast. I suppose Freaks and Geeks came close, and while that ended up the Best TV Series Ever, it didn't translate into a second season. LAWKI even has a F&G pedigree in Jeff Judah and Gabe Sachs, but it's also in a Thursday death slot. Plus it's got Kelly Osbourne, which is just a bad idea. Then again last year's doomed-to-fail quirky teen show was Joan of Arcadia, and that stuck around.



7. Medical Investigation - One medical examination/forensic show too many. I expect L&O: Trial by Jury to pop up in its slot.



8. Complete Savages - Okay, I just want Mel to take a fall. The fact that this has changed titles three times already says something. And it seems to me that FOX already got the jump on the passel o' kids sitcom with the already-renewed Quintuplets.



9. Center of the Universe - I like John Goodman just fine, but he's a second banana. Great on Roseanne. Great in Monsters, Inc. Great in the Coens' films. as the main guy...er...Normal, Ohio. Its fate probably rests with its followup, CSI: New York.



10. Father of the Pride - I didn't watch yesterday's premiere, but many people are already calling Fraught on this one. Aaron Barnhart at TV Barn says the show gets better, but as Tim points out, NBC hasn't been too friendly to primetime animation. Plus, it seems to me that tasteless humor on TV works best when it's the product of one or two fevered brains. It can't be done by committee. Who's responsible for Beavis & Butthead? Mike Judge. South Park? Trey & Matt. Family Guy? Seth McFarlane. Father of the Pride-- umm...Siggy & Roy? MGM Mirage? Dreamworks? See, no one knows. Then again, it just might catch on.





Thought hard about picking: The Office. but it may not see the light of day.

Kicking myself for not picking: Method & Red. Word is the producers, not the network, rejected an order for additional eps, and Method Man himself reportedly wants out. Damn, yo!