Downtime

By Richard Zoglin

5 Things. A cult book becomes a movie, a TV doctor moves south, and the Supremes--not the singing ones--go under the microscope MUSIC

Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace

Foo Fighters; out Sept. 25

Six albums into its existence, Dave Grohl's post-Nirvana band has evolved into a four-piece version of Silver Bullet Band-era Bob Seger. Like its predecessors, Echoes is predictably ghee-tar heavy, with lyrics focused on a core of universally agreed-upon values (authenticity, integrity; you know the drill). It's tuneful, stolid, competent--but also a little dull. Like a rock.

MOVIES

Into the Wild

Rated R; out Sept. 21

Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) was a have-it-all kid who, upon graduating from college, resolved to flee his family for the Alaskan wilderness. Is Christopher a truth seeker, a defiant brat or some unknowable other? Director Sean Penn, adapting the Jon Krakauer bio-book, makes no judgments. He slowly spins this into a parable of one man's need for revelation, isolation and chilly transcendence.

BOOKS

The Nine

By Jeffrey Toobin

On sale now

Veteran court chronicler Toobin turns his gaze to the Supremes. With stylish writing and unparalleled access to the Justices, he explores the Judicial Branch's recent extreme rightward trajectory. His conclusion? The John Roberts court is on the move and gunning for precedents.

TELEVISION

Reaper

The CW

Tuesdays, 9 p.m. E.T.

This is the show from hell, and we mean it in a good way. On his 21st birthday, slacker Sam (Bret Harrison) learns that his parents sold his soul to the Devil (Ray Wise). Now Satan has come to collect, drafting him to capture fugitives from Hades--a dirty job but one that gives Sam a purpose in life for the first time. A kind of male Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Reaper is the funniest network pilot of the season and a devil of a good time.

TELEVISION

Private Practice

ABC

Wednesdays, 9 p.m. E.T.

Creator Shonda Rhimes should have just gone the CSI route and titled this spin-off Grey's Anatomy: Los Angeles. Addison Forbes Montgomery (Kate Walsh) hooks up with a group of doctors whose personal entanglements, snappy dialogue and eccentric medical-ethics dilemmas add up to Grey's in a warmer climate. Fine if that's all you need, but if you're sick of TV clones, Practice is not the cure.

DVD WATCH: A PAIR OF ACES

Comic Innovators

Two people in particular picked up Lenny Bruce's fallen sword in the 1970s and charged on in the battle to make stand-up comedy the voice of a dissenting generation. In an irony both would appreciate, DVD sets of all their HBO concerts will be released on Sept. 25. George Carlin: All My Stuff shows Carlin progress from counterculture provocateur (the seven words you can't say on TV) to curmudgeonly uncle to angry village elder railing about war and golf. Robert Klein: The HBO Specials 1975-2005 rolls out the groundbreaking, brainy, improv-based style that has influenced nearly every stand-up who has followed.