Shatner's got precisely the right amount of wrong

When you read a title like William Shatner's Weird or What?, the first inclination might be to simply answer, "Yes."

But as accurate as the sentiment might be, that's not the meaning behind the name of this offbeat new History TV series. Instead of just standing in front of the camera and being strange, the Canadian-born TV icon's role in this light documentary project is to act as host, narrator and tour guide on an exploration of some truly unusual and awfully hard-to-explain events and phenomena.

Weird or What?, which premieres tonight at 9 on History, takes a factual but fun-infused look at its subject matter, re-creating baffling occurrences and then trying to find the straightforward scientific explanations behind them. The stories are essentially serious, but with Shatner telling them, they can't help but be seasoned with a hint of mirth and mischief.

Tonight's series premiere focuses on three different tales -- a New York City window washer who survived a 47-storey fall, a woman whose kitchen was crushed by a giant ice ball that plummeted out of the sky, and the mysterious case of seven sneaker-clad human feet that have washed up on beaches near Vancouver.

In each case, Shatner recounts the facts and presents interview clips from people close to the investigation, and then runs through a series of plausible but not necessarily applicable scientific explanations for what occurred. In the case of the window washer who fell more than 120 metres and survived, computer graphics and an applied-physics explanation provide a pretty good theory for why the worker didn't perish in the same manner his brother/co-worker did.

It's thought-provoking stuff, and Shatner -- who chooses to play this with just the right combination of sincerity and cheese -- is a perfect choice.

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Rescued? Me? -- If life, and TV drama, are about the journey, the accomplishments and the lessons learned along the way, well, Tommy Gavin just isn't getting anywhere.

As portrayed by Denis Leary, the central character of the made-for-U.S.-cable series Rescue Me (which returns tonight at midnight on Showcase) has had more than enough reasons to rethink and restart his life -- most notably, being shot, dying and visiting with his fallen comrades while basking in the bright light of the beyond before being brought back to life in the crossover from last season's finale to tonight's premiere.

He's responsible for the drunk-driving death of his Uncle Teddy's wife, has been begged by his daughters to stop drinking, and is under the close scrutiny of his friends and co-workers, but ...

You can't rescue someone who doesn't want to be saved.

Rescue Me's sixth season, which opens with Tommy making an ill-advised early exit from hospital (after a month-long stay) in order to be reunited with his demons, offers some rather direct declarations about the consequences of an alcoholic's actions, and an even more emphatic statement about the powerful grip of addiction.

Given that Leary and series co-creator Peter Tolan have stated that Rescue Me's finale will air (on its U.S.-cable network, FX) next year, on or around the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks that inspired the series, it will be very interesting to follow the journey they take Tommy Gavin on between now and that momentous date.

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Dying, secretly: What would you do if your doctor told you that you have terminal cancer?

Chances are, it would be different from what Cathy Jamison decided to do.

Jamison, as portrayed by Emmy-winning actress Laura Linney in the intriguing new U.S.-cable series The Big C (which has its Canadian premiere tonight at 9 on Super Channel), is an uptight Minneapolis schoolteacher who has just been told she has Stage 4 (in other words, incurable) melanoma.

And the manner in which she deals with her dire diagnosis -- keeping the news secret from her family and friends, flirting with her doctor, becoming an unwelcome guardian angel to an overweight and disruptive student (Gabourey Sidibe), tying her reconciliation-minded ex-husband (Oliver Platt) into emotional knots, and engaging in a series of bucket-list behaviours that are as outrageous as they are immature -- will surely make The Big C the subject of controversy and debate.

But watching Linney take Cathy through these choices is fascinating. The character may be disturbed and disturbing, but the actor playing the part is right at the top of her game.

brad.oswald@freepress.mb.ca

William Shatner's Weird or What?

Hosted by William Shatner

Tonight at 9

History

Rescue Me

Starring Denis Leary

Tonight at midnight

Showcase

The Big C

Starring Laura Linney

Tonight at 9

Super Channel

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 1, 2010 D3