New Fall TV review/schedule

As many of these blog entries have shown, I certainly do love to watch tv, particularly comedies and dramas. Since I briefly recapped last season's shows in May, I figured I would preview this season's shows in September. So, here is my quick run-down of what I'm going to be watching in between NFL games. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), Fox passed on Supreme Courtships. Maybe the next time around they will try it as a comedy.

Although I hear that some of the new fall shows are available via their respective torrents, none of the shows I have any desire to see have done what Heroes did last year and did an early premiere online. Thus, all of my thoughts on the new shows are based off the commercials I have seen on tv or the internet.

The quick rundown is that out of all the new fall shows, I will give Journeyman a chance, and maybe also Cavemen and Back to You on occasion. Overall, I'm not overly optimistic about new shows for this fall. Only time will tell whether my predictions are correct, and more in depth reviews of one or more of these shows may possibly follow.

In & Out (by network):
NBC:
In:
Journeyman. This is some sort of pseudo-time traveling show, which means it has the potential to be interesting, so it might be good enough to watch once or twice. I just wonder if it's going to be like a tv version of The Butterfly Effect. Maybe it will surprise me, but I'm not holding my breath. It has a good timeslot going for it (it premieres right after Heroes on Sept. 24), so I'll give it a shot if I'm not too overwhelmed with work by then. There's a 50/50 chance of me watching it past six episodes; whether the rest of the Neilson audience gets to do the same remains to be seen. It probably will survive at least this season if Heroes' success is any indication of what people are willing to watch instead of MNF.

Heroes Season 2: Like many other Heroes fans who I've spoken to, the finale certainly left a lot to be desired. But it did manage to save itself in the last six or so episodes of last season (as compared to the first few), so I'll probably watch it again, at least for a few episodes. Heroes returns on Sept. 24. In the interim, the Heroes season 2 trailer can be found here.

The Office: Premieres September 27 and has moved to the coveted Thursday night 9 PM timeslot. Excellent. Apparently there will be 30 episodes this season. Also excellent.

Medium: Returns in January on Fridays. Although the show began to lose me by the end of the season, I'll probably watch a few more episodes before giving up on it completely.

Pass:
Bionic Woman. Nah. It doesn't look bad though, so I predict it will be picked up, just not by me.

Life. I have no desire to watch another cop show, particularly one about a cop trying to figure out who framed him "after years of false imprisonment." I would rather watch Law & Order (which I don't). Prediction: Probably will not be around that long.

My Name is Earl. I've already explained my reasons for this here.

ABC:
In:
Lost. Of course it won't premiere until February or March, and I can only hope it returns to its 9 PM timeslot for its 16-episode season.

Maybe but probably not:
Cavemen (see long preview here): Although I do want to have a new comedy to replace My Name is Earl, and I may give Cavemen a chance once, I probably won't watch it more than that unless it's great. If ABC really wants it to succeed, they should put it on Thursday at either 8 PM or 8:30 so I have something to watch before the Office comes on. I predict that it will have as much success as the George Lopez show, and perhaps more if its timeslot is changed.

This show warrants two paragraphs because before it even starts, it has a black mark against it. I haven't been overly impressed with the Geico cavemen commercials, and I am passing that neutral to negative bias onto the show. And since I'm sure Geico is hoping to generate big business from sponsoring (either directly or indirectly) a tv show based on its advertising campaign, that's just one more reason for me not to watch it. In the hopes that maybe someone working for Geico comes across this entry and can do something about it, I will say that I think the Geico cavemen commercials could be much funnier than they currently are. Maybe they will put one on during the Superbowl to impress us all.

Pass:
Chuck. From the commercials, this show looks like it will be some sort of drama-comedy that will turn Johnny Mnemonic into a tv show. Somehow they think if they throw a hot blond into the show that will help it succeed. A hot actress didn't work for the movie; I highly doubt it will work for this particular show. Thus, my prediction for "Chuck" is self-explanatory.

Samantha Who?: Monday night has enough going on that I don't think a comedy will work. Particularly a comedy about an amnesia victim. This show won't be around very long.

Pushing Daisies. This show is about a guy who can bring people back to life in order to collect reward money or to solve the crime. I get enough of this type of show from Medium. Or even Heroes, if I'm correct in assuming this show is about someone discovering the potential within. I found one blog that gave it a ringing endorsement, but without any real substance in the review, I find it lacking in believability. ABC seems to be able to pull rabbits out of its hat sometimes, so this will probably survive the slaughter of the rest of the fall lineup.

Private Practice. This is a spin-off of Grey's Anatomy, which I never got into. I'm sure if you like Grey's Anatomy, this show will be just as good and do as well as the first CSI spin-off. I don't watch CSI either, so someone else would know better than I on how well this show will do.

Big Shots: I think the preview speaks for itself, but this show is about a bunch of rich power players and their tales of woe. Having joined a profession of these "types," I have no interest in watching a dramatization of it on tv. I'm sure I won't be the only one. Between this and Pushing Daisies, I think Pushing Daisies will succeed and this one will not.

Boston Legal. It may be still on, but I have explained my reasons why I think this show has ran its course in this previous entry, and I will not be watching it.

Fox:
In:
Sarah Connor Chronicles (premiers probably after the Superbowl) - I'm a fan of the Terminator movies, so I may watch a couple episodes of this. It could be really cool, or awful. The Sarah Connor Chronicles trailer can be found on this blogger's page. Prediction: Will be picked up but probably only for a season, at most.

Maybe:
Back to You. This is a comedy, so that's good, but it's a comedy on Fox and not NBC, so I'm a little leary. It has Kelsey Grammer, which is good, but also Patricia Heaton, which I'm not sure is a plus. As a result, it may be worth tuning into. We shall see. Prediction: Will last as long and do as well as Till Death Do Us Part.

Pass:
K-Ville. Another cop show? Give me a break.

24. I'm going to give Jack Bauer the day off when it comes back on. If it turns into a movie though, I'll pay the ten bucks to go see it. Hopefully it's not as much of a letdown as The Sentinel.

CBS:
In:
Jericho moves to Fridays at 9, which may be a kiss of death time slot for this great show. Not sure when it starts, but I'll keep watching it probably until the end, at least on the internet. Hopefully when and if CBS does ultimately kill it, ABC or Fox will pick it up and give it the justice it deserves. If you haven't watched this show and had time, watch the entire season 1 online through CBS's website.

Maybe, but probably not: Kid Nation. This show has potential, but I don't think I'm in the target market. If I was a network executive, I would want this showing Fridays at 8 PM and would heavily promote it to the 18 and under demographic. As it currently appears, I could care less about how kids think they can make things better. I get enough of that from reading briefs from lawyers or watching Campaign '08 on tv. Prediction: Probably will stick around but not for the reasons I have stated.

Pass:
Cane. Although this one could be good, I just can't get into another show that requires me to watch it every week to follow. Sugar as the new oil? It just doesn't grab me. Prediction: Has the same potential as Studio 60 or The Black Donnellys, but I think this one will be picked up for a little longer.

Moonlight. I think this is about some sort of werewolf or vampire man. I think that about sums it up. Prediction: May last as long as Ghost Whisperer, but probably not.

HBO:
Curb Your Enthusiasm starts up in September, so I'll be watching that. I think Entourage only has a couple episodes left this "season."

CW:
Pass: Smallville. I've had enough. Clark is a wimp. Clark is mad. Clark wants Lana. Clark doesn't want Lana. Clark hates Lex. Clark doesn't hate Lex. I get it. The show sucks.

In: Nothing. Who watches the CW? If you liked the OC though, supposedly Gossip Girl is by the same guy. I never did, so I won't.

As far as my predictions for last season, I batted a thousand:
Heroes: Correct that it had the potential to survive the six episode run and it did. See my review of the pilot and the flack I took for it here. Also correct were my October predictions about the finale.

Shark: Correct and still around it seems (although I rarely watch the show).

Jericho: Correct in part. I still say it needs a better timeslot.

Justice: Correct that the show sucked and it would be canceled.

Supreme Courtships: Correct in my implication that this show would probably fail.

24: Correct that the ratings would not be as good this season. See review of the season 6 premiere part 1 and part 2.

Enough tv for now.

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