Who needs to hydrate?

Before we get to "Entourage" episode two, the morning column link: Matt on PBS' "The History Detectives" and "Free Speech: Jim Lehrer and Bill Bradley," plus a capsule review from me of the muckraking first segment on tomorrow night's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel."

Now, then, on to "Aquaman." I thought the season premiere was just a'ight-blah, but this was much better. I spent the hiatus telling friends that I thought it would be an interesting story direction if "Aquaman" was a flop and suddenly Drama, Turtle and E had to fend for themselves, possibly with Drama experiencing a brief career renaissance and becoming the new breadwinner while Vince struggles to prove he's not washed up before 30. Obviously, they ain't going in that direction, and that's fine, since A)My idea is more one of those things a show tries in its later seasons when it's run out of variations on the premise, and B)The writers clearly haven't run out of variations on "Vince gets everything he's ever wanted while the guys ride his coattails" just yet.

Things to love: Ari denying Mrs. Ari because you don't fool around on game day; Drama going all T.E. Lawrence for the trip into the Valley (Matt's been quoting the "I gotta hydrate" line at me for weeks), Turtle striking out with the older sister, Ari smashing Lloyd's statue, the clever use of an "Aquaman" clip that didn't feature the costume or any major FX (I'm sure the wave was lifted from another movie) and Vince trying to have the "I am a golden god!" moment from "Almost Famous." (I think if Vince had a choice between having lots of money or just getting to re-create scenes from movies he loved growing up, he'd pick the latter.)

So now Vince has starred in the movie with the biggest opening of all time. His playground just got a whole lot bigger. What did everybody else think?

Pilot Watch: The end (for now)

To quote a very wise man, all right, all right, all right. I have now watched every pilot the networks sent out, including Fox's "The Wedding Album," which I didn't write about because it's being massively revamped (new lead, new showrunners, new format), but oddly enough not including ABC's "Brothers and Sisters," which as far as I know is only recasting one supporting part.

Rather than just barrel through the pilots network by network, disc by disc, I've been picking and choosing along the way. And though I always try to leave a few good ones for the end, it never quite works out that way. I don't think I'll want to see any of the final four -- "Runaway," "The Game," "Notes from the Underbelly" and "Happy Hour" -- again, barring major changes between now and September. (Which is why, as the song goes, these ain't reviews; oftentimes this stuff can and does change dramatically.) More specific thoughts after the jump...

"Runaway"
Who's In It: Donnie Wahlberg, Leslie Hope, Dustin Milligan, Sarah Ramos
What It's About: "Everwood" meets "Running on Empty" meets "Prison Break," as Wahlberg's family is forced to go on the run and move to a blue-collar Iowa town after he's framed for murder by some mysterious conspiracy.
Pluses: I pretty much always like Wahlberg and Hope. Doesn't try to depict Iowa as a complete backwater; Wahlberg gets a job at a coffee shop that has Wi-Fi!
Minuses: The "Everwood"-y parts (including the eldest son being bitter about the move) just remind me how much better "Everwood" did it, and as I've said, I'm completely burnt-out and disinterested in any kind of ongoing crime conspiracy plot anymore.

"The Game"
Who's In It: Tia Mowry, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Coby Bell, Aldis Hodge
What It's About: Fake "Girlfriends" spin-off where Joan's cousin Melanie moves to San Diego where her boyfriend is the third-string wide receiver for a pro football team.
Pluses: Fairly novel premise, and it has "Girlfriends" creator Mara Brock-Akil (responsible for one of UPN's better sitcoms) running things.
Minuses: Didn't make me laugh much.

"Notes From the Underbelly"
Who's In It: Jennifer Westfeldt, Peter Cambor, Rachael Harris, the woman with the squeaky voice from the Glad commercials
What It's About: Yuppie couple argue over whether to have a baby, then freak out after discovering the wife is pregnant.
Pluses: Rachael Harris is funny pretty much anywhere you put her -- VH1's "I Love..." specials, "Fat Actress," or here as the stereotypical bitchy single friend who's annoyed best pal Westfeldt is joining the mommy cult. I liked Westfeldt in "Kissing Jessica Stein." No laughtrack.
Minuses: No real laughs, either. Like Thursday partner "Big Day," it plays on a lot of fairly universal experiences but doesn't really put any spin on them.

"Happy Hour"
Who's In It: A whole bunch of people you've never seen or heard of before
What It's About: Recently-dumped guy wants to stay in his girlfriend's building in hope of reconciling, so he moves in with a martini-swilling Internet t-shirt salesman determined to make his new roommate lighten up.
Pluses: As the token wisecracking but sexy pal, Beth Locke convincingly eats a deep dish pizza (for Fox actresses, this is an achievement) and has some off-beat line readings. Some fun to be had in trying to figure out why so many of the actors bear uncanny resemblance to more famous people. (I spent half the pilot wondering if Nat Faxon, second from the left in that picture, is Jon Heder's older brother.)
Minuses: Didn't the whole Rat Pack nostalgia thing come and go about 10 years ago, sometime after "Swingers" but before "Buddy Faro"? A real mess overall.

The Post Mortem

Do you Believe in Miracles?

Cal State Fullerton coach George Horton might have said it best when he noted that hard-working teams tend to create their own luck. The Titans might be the hardest working team in baseball.

Unless two-run infield singles happen everyday.

Fullerton was down to its last out when it scored three ninth inning runs with two outs to oust Georgia Tech, 7-5. Cory Vanderhook, the base-running goat from Friday night, had the game-winning hit � a ball bounced off the plate and through the infield. Like Pete Vuckovich said in Major League, �You really knocked the crap out of that one.� Thankfully, this game wasn�t a beauty contest.

�That�s a record, the best 90-foot hit I�ve ever seen,� Horton added.

Never a doubt, eh?

It�s hard to imagine where this game ranks amongst the all-time greats, but it is right up there. There are exciting games. Come-from-behind games. And there are destiny defining games. A game like Game 6 of the 2002 World Series. Moments after Troy Glaus hit the go-ahead double, you knew the Angels were going to go one to win the World Series. There was no doubt.

It�s hard not to draw a similar parallel to Fullerton�s game on Sunday. Of course, the Angels had the benefit of playing the same team in Game 7. The Titans will play Clemson on Tuesday, a team that already had its own comeback magic against Tech. But sometimes the difference between winning and losing is a swagger. The Titans definitely got it back.

• Was that Jeffrey Maier wearing a North Carolina hat on Sunday? You might remember Maier who threw himself into a Yankees/Orioles playoff game by reaching over the fence to give the Yankees a home run a few years ago. The same thing happened on Sunday when some punk kid reached over the fence to take Matt Wieter�s drive away from Titans outfielder Danny Dorn. Luckily, that play was not a factor. Or was that hard work that it was not a factor?
  

• So the Angels couldn�t pitch Jered Weaver on Sunday, and then push Bartolo Colon's start to Monday? Did that make too much sense? It looks like Colon has been hitting the HGH � hamburgers, grease, and Hershey. Colon gave up four runs to the Padres on Sunday. That�s like giving up 10 runs to a Major League Baseball team.

AND FINALLY
Leave it to the NBA to have a Finals game go into overtime, be settled in the final seconds and still not be exciting. Maybe it was the Fullerton game earlier, but there was nothing interesting in that series. There is no way the Heat win a game in Dallas. No way.