TRIPLE THREAT

You could feel TV's ground shift the other night as Eddie Izzard launched The Riches on FX, his coolly ambitious satire. The humor was jagged, lit by violence, the characters hungry and gulping down plot, the tone steely-eyed anarchic. There was Minnie Driver, a con on parole, sobbing, throwing her syringe out the window of her new McMansion, unable to tap a vein. There was the younger son, Sam, who draws wall murals and liked to dress like a girl. It tapped the waried intrigue of Blue Velvet or Something Wild or Sam and the Pharoahs "Wooly Bully." Very few comedians ever take the stage with such daring or certitude. And it was all brought you by:

QUENTIN TARANTINO AND ROBERT RODIRGUEZ


Shilling their new double-feature drive-in supervixen extra-glucose Russ Meyer tits-in-face Grindhouse, or the kind of scum Izzard's golfers gated out. An over-fetishized triple-cheese-burger-for-the-soul of a trailer, the movie promises to make KILL BILL look quaint.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE

Fresh from his Oscar, Forest Whitaker returns as Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh on a sixth season of The Shield, starting April 3, with another season to follow. Run to the video store and rent the first five on DVD to catch up. Tell all your friends that Nip/Tuck is for ninnies. CCH Pounder finally makes Lieutenant. Michael Chicklis's Vince Mackay grows on you, and then suddenly he's a monster you could pal around with. We're waiting for the big think piece on this, the best-cop-show-ever.

MEANWHILE

The scene is surreal and unforgettable. Passers-by stop by the flag-draped coffin Carlos has rolled out of the back of his pickup truck. There are Army boots of loved ones lost, and large photos of grieving Iraqi women and one of Alex in an open casket. This is all set against the massive video display atop the recruiting station. Among its slogans: "There is nothing on this green earth stronger than the US Army." Above that, an even larger display promotes Fox News and Bill O'Reilly and flashes phrases like "Gitmo justice." The famous Dow Jones news zipper runs its endless recitation of stock quotes and the daily count of dead and injured. A video ad for sunglasses flashes the words "Never Hide."