CBS's Thursday Night Line-Up Looks Promising with "The Big Bang Theory" "The Crazy Ones" and "Elementary"

The Big Bang Theory begins its seventh season tonight at 8:00 pm ET on CBS with back to back episodes. The always intelligent and funny series has seen a dramatic increase in its ratings over the past two seasons and it will be interesting to see if that trend continues through season seven. The Big Bang Theory is my favorite ensemble comedy since The Golden Girls and I can watch the reruns over and over again and never be bored.

The Crazy Ones debuts tonight at 9:00pm ET on CBS. I planned to watch the series when I first heard about it because of Robin Williams, who is one of my favorite actors. What makes me even more excited about the series is that David E. Kelley (Boston Legal) is the creator, executive producer and he also wrote the Pilot episode. Williams stars as an advertising executive who can allegedly sell anything to anyone. The Crazy Ones also stars Sarah Michelle Geller (Ringer) and James Wolk (Political Animals).

Elementary returns for a second season tonight at 10:00 pm ET on CBS. The detective drama based on legendary detective Sherlock Holmes had an above average first season, but lacked consistency during the latter episodes. The performances by Jonny Lee Miller (Sherlock) and Lucy Liu (Watson) are to be commended and their chemistry is what makes the series work so well. The new season begins in London where Holmes and Watson investigate an unsolved mystery.

DVD Recommendation: "One Hour Photo" (2002) - Starring Robin Williams

One Hour Photo is one of those films that had been in my Netflix queue for a long time, but kept being pushed back in favor of new releases. Recently, the film finally arrived in the mail and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed watching it. Of course, had Robin Williams not been cast as the lead character, I may not have had any interest in seeing One Hour Photo in the first place. Williams has long been one of my favorite actors and he delivers a superb performance as lonely Sy Parrish, a photo technician, who works at a generic superstore.

Sy is amiable, diligent and courteous, but is also quirky and not always easy to read. Sy knows his regular customers by heart and goes above and beyond for them, even when they would rather he did not go to any trouble. While Sy appears to be unselfish, he is actually very selfish and displays a mean streak on occasion, usually when he does not get his own way. As long as everything goes as Sy expects it to, then he is happy, but when his comfort zone is breached, look out.

Sy appears very attached to regular customers Nina Yorkin (Connie Nielsen) and her son, Jake (Dylan Smith), who have been frequenting the photo shop for years. He feels so comfortable with them that he always makes extra copies of all of their photos....and then keeps a set for himself. Sy does not have a family of his own, so he creates one from fantasy. Only he knows the people involved and hopes to be an important part of their lives one day. However, they do not seem to be aware of his unhealthy attachment.

The unstable Sy is outraged when he develops pictures for a customer and finds Nina's husband, Will (Michael Vartan), is compromising positions with another woman. Sy is offended that Will would cheat on Nina and disrupt their "perfect" family. He is further aggravated when his supervisor, Bill (Gary Cole), fires him for stealing prints. Indeed, Sy's world is falling apart and he feels the need to makes things right/exact revenge for the emptiness that permeates his life. Sadly, the Yorkin family has no idea what Sy has in store for them.

Writer/director Mark Romanek has crafted a spellbinding, low key film that caught me by surprise. Romanek's screenplay is chilling and the psychological ramifications are beyond disturbing. In addition, Robin Williams delivers an completely effective and unforgettable performance as a man who could literally go crazy at any moment. As a result, viewers fear for Nina and Jake, who are innocent victims. While One Hour Photo is rather uncomfortable to watch, I was completely invested for the 90 plus minute run time. My only complaint is that I waited a decade to watch this captivating thriller that will surely stay with me for some time to come.