Terra Nova, Anderson, The Sing-Off

Anderson, syndicated, check listings

First: I adore Anderson Cooper. I still get all goose-bumpy when I watch him yell at that politician in New Orleans. And I love his life story, that his mom is Gloria Vanderbilt and that they had so much tragedy, and that he is close friends with Kathy Griffin. All of this makes my disappointment in his new talk show that much deeper. Now true, Rosie and Ellen and probably even Oprah had a learning curve period. Maybe this is true for Anderson. But for now, blech.

The Sing-Off, 8 p.m., NBC

I can’t remember if I told you this already, but a really fun drinking game (no driving!) is every time anyone defines “a capella,” you drink.

Terra Nova, 8 p.m., Fox

So the first half of the two-hour premiere was excruciating in that it was badly written, poorly acted, and paced like a dying triceratops. We were ready to give up. But the 10-year-old suggested we hang in there, and for the last 30 minutes, we were clutching blankets and covering our faces and shouting, “Oh, that isn’t good!” Hopefully they will ditch the stilted dialog and the soap opera-esque camera work and focus on killer dinos and warring factions. We like that.