By Dean Robbins
‘The Pacific’ recycles World War II clichés
Producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg collaborated on “Band of Brothers,” a miniseries about U.S. soldiers fighting in Europe during World War II. They follow up with “The Pacific” (Sunday, 8 p.m., HBO), another miniseries following the action in the Pacific theater. I’ll always love Hanks and Spielberg for “Saving Private Ryan,” arguably the best World War II movie ever, but “The Pacific” is a blot on their record. It wallows in war-movie clichés, with inspirational music oozing through each scene like syrup.
The most annoying character is a writer who can’t stop looking at the war through sensitive eyes. We have to suffer through his philosophical letters home, containing pearls of wisdom like this: “There are things men can do to each other that are sobering to the soul.”
In fact, “The Pacific” is anything but “sobering.” It’s an unintentional laugh riot.
‘The Celebrity Apprentice’
Sunday, 8 p.m. (NBC)
Donald Trump finally gives disgraced Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich the reality show spotlight he’s been craving. This horror show also includes Cyndi Lauper, Sharon Osbourne, Sinbad and a bunch of “celebrities” I’ve never heard of, all striving to be picked as Trump’s business lackey for the first couple fiscal quarters of 2010.
I’m baffled by Lauper’s presence. The appealing bohemian singer once told us that “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” Does she really believe that hanging out with Trump and Blagojevich will achieve this goal?
‘Sons of Tucson’
Sunday, 8:30 p.m. (Fox)
Fox’s new sitcom stars Tyler Labine as a loser who agrees to pose as the dad for three young children trying to avoid foster care. The series is loud and obnoxious, the child actors are awful and the script strains for shock value. Jokes are about Hurricane Katrina deaths and a racist, sexually perverted granny — anybody laughing yet? CV
