T.O. Show Says Goodbye to Buffalo

Now that Terrell Owens is a former Buffalo Bill, the question is how long will Western New Yorkers stay interested in season two of VH-1’s “The T.O Show”?

Judging by Sunday’s 10:30 p.m. premiere, I’m guessing about seven minutes.

That’s how long the focus is on Buffalo in an episode titled “Bye Bye Buffalo.”

As Western New York temperatures hit the high 90s this summer, it is pretty funny watching Owens walking and running around WNY wearing a Russian hat that covers both ears as the snow and the winter wind flies around him.

The snowy pictures of WNY in January just before he left town without fanfare strike a contrast with Owens’ arrival in 2009 when fans rocked the Buffalo airport on a summer-like night.

Buffalonians shouldn’t get too hot under the collar about the winter cliché. After all, it is cold and snowy here in January.

As I said in a previous blog, they should be more concerned about Owens’ words. And he doesn’t have anything negative to say about his time here and takes some responsibility for last year’s disappointing season. Those are wise public relations moves.

“I feel like I let the team and the city down,” said Owens.

Owens is even questioning whether he wants to play football again if another National Football League team calls. Let’s just say there won’t be an hour ESPN special called “The Decision” about this free agent’s choice of his next team.

Most of the episode concerns Owen’s disagreements with his publicists and best friends, Monique Jackson and Kita Williams, over his living arrangements and his relationships with women.

Mo (the tougher one) and Kita (the funnier one) both take Owens into their homes in Los Angeles, which leads to the kind of conflict that reality show watchers love. Mo is pregnant with her third child, which adds an extra element of drama and humor.

T.O. plays the good guy and baby sits for Mo and her husband Vic. He even changes a diaper on camera. I’m not going to go for a cheap laugh and say he dropped it. Oh, I guess I did.

Of course, T.O.’s social life is another focus. He reaches out to his beautiful former girlfriend, Kari, and even agrees to try counseling.

I wish I could say all of this was more interesting that it sounds. The first episode is so routine that it makes one wonder if VH-1 should have joined the Bills and cut ties with Owens, too.

But, hey, the first season had strong ratings and a short clip of highlights show some more promising material.

A VH-1 release also notes that the season will see Terrell try modeling, guest on a talk show that deals with sex and is reunited with Donovan McNabb, the quarterback who he criticized when they both played for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Tennis star Andy Roddick makes a guest appearance in the seventh episode. Owens attends the Kentucky Derby with Kita, auditions for a movie role and gets a part. In the season finale, he makes a marriage proposal. Kari appears to be a long shot and T.O.’s former fiancé appears to be the favorite.

In other words, there is a lot going on and makes “The Decision” whether to keep watching after the routine premiere somewhat tough.

Rating: 2 stars out of 4

* YES Network announced two months ago that it would carry two New York Yankee games in 3-D. The games with Seattle air this weekend. Of course, I’m guessing more people read this start-up blog than have 3-D sets right now. I only hope the blog grows at the same pace as sales of 3-D sets.

* Nice to see that the newspaper that I love confirmed today that Channel 4 reporter Jericka Duncan is leaving for a job in Philadelphia. Of course, stilltalkintv reported it a few days ago and even spelled her name right. I also got a brief message recently from another Channel 4 reporter thanking me for spelling her name right after it was misspelled in the Buffalo News.

Hey, we all make mistakes. I've been guilty of spelling names wrong, too. But as a journalism professor who got an F when he was a Syracuse University student and spelled a subject's name wrong, it embarrasses me. After all, it isn’t really that hard to check how to spell the names of local TV reporters. You just go on a station’s website to check, especially when it concerns unusual spellings.

* If you want to know first what is happening in local TV, stilltalkintv is usually your place to go. About a month after it was reported here that anchor Lisa Flynn was exiting Channel 4, the newspaper confirmed it. So at least it is getting much quicker about reporting old TV news that first appears in this blog. I feel like I deserve a finder's fee. It would be nice if the News at least credited where the news was first reported. But that's probably asking too much.

pergament@msn