Sunday, September 7, 2008

As we charge head-first into a new fall TV season, I thought I'd pop my thoughts on here. Now, keep in mind, I have not seen a single episode of any of these. I have only seen premises and a few ads and the occasional cast picture.

90210 - It may have a more diverse cast and less dated wardrobe, but it's still a retread.
America's Toughest Jobs - One of the contestants says, "This is not a game show". It's a game show.
Crusoe - Looks splendid, and I personally think you can't go wrong with the Robinson Crusoe theme, but I don't know if network viewers will go for it, so if you want something that's going to make it to a full season, you may want to give it a pass.
Do Not Disturb - I love Niecy Nash. Can't say the same for Jerry O'Connell. And a creative team who calls a Manhattan Hotel "The Inn" can't really be counted on for creativity. Plus it's on FOX. Don't count on it lasting.
Easy Money - A show about a guy running a short-term loan business? At least it's not a comedy. The guy is cute, but these are the only things I know about it.
Eleventh Hour - A government scientist travels the country investigating abuses of science? Didn't this show get canceled three seasons ago? But it's from Jerry Bruckheimer and it follows CSI so it may not be all bad. Features Mark Blucas (at least once).
The Ex-List - Clips look promising, except for one problem: She has one year to go through her list of exes or die. (Can a premise really be a spoiler?) Features Eric Balfour, which is a plus, and quite probably a new hot male guest star every week. But if it makes it through the first season, what's it going to do for a second?
Fringe - I just can't take Joshua Jackson seriously. There. I said it. A mis-matched trio team up to solve crimes involving "fringe science". Wait. Isn't this The Eleventh Hour and didn't it get canceled three seasons ago?
Gary Unmarried - The premise seems to be that some woman (Paula Marshall) picked Ed Begley Jr over Jay Mohr. Sorry. I just can't see that. Maybe 30 years ago when Begley was in his twenties and Mohr was in diapers, but not now. Also, they have kids in the cast, which is never promising.
Hole in the Wall - A game show where people try to arrange their bodies to fit through a hole in a wall. ... Seriously? That's a premise?
In Harm's way - Documentary series featuring America's toughest jobs (see second title on list). If you like shows about heroic men and women risking life and limb just "doing their jobs", I'd probably pick this over ATJ. That doesn't mean I'll actually be watching it, though.
Kath & Kim - My favorite TV critic has already picked this as the first show to die. Can't say I disagree.
Kings - The Book of 1 Kings (from the bible) set in modern times? Given what I remember of that book, this could be excellent. But will they have the guts to include the gay subtext? And a good looking lead doesn't hurt.
Knight Rider - It had a summer pilot movie that I recorded but still haven't seen. If you saw that, you already know whether you'll like the series. I haven't so I can't say much. But it has David Hasselhoff in it, which fans of the original will consider a plus but I'll consider a minus.
Life on Mars - A cop from today wakes up in 1973? Not a bad fish-out-of-water concept, although I'd be wracking my brain trying to remember who won the World Series (as ... investment strategy). He has to solve crimes. Not quite sure what to make of the show, though he does look good in a leisure suit. The 70s were painful for me, but that was the late 70s.
The Mentalist - Zap2it essentially calls it Psych without the jokes. It looks good and I do like Simon Baker, and since he's not trying to pretend to be psychic, it might not wear thin.
My Own Worst Enemy - Christian Slater suffers multiple personality disorder / dissociative identity disorder, and one of them is an assassin? I don't buy it.
Opportunity Knocks - A game show comes to your door. Why do you let them in? You know it can't end well (though reviews say it'll be less humiliating than, say, Moment of Truth).
Privileged - A journalist-wannabe takes a job tutoring a rich woman's "bratty" twin granddaughters. I can't say I'm a fan of the bratty teenager genre.
Secret Millionaire - A group of millionaires (or so) goes undercover in the slums. If this were a drama, it might be slightly offensive. Instead, it's a "reality" show and some lucky poor person is going to get $100,000 (one lucky poor person for each secret "agent"). (I don't know if that's every episode or a grand finale.)
Stylista - Call it America's Next Top Fashion Editor. Then hand me the remote.
Surviving Suburbia - Zap2it calls this one "The hum-drum lives of suburbanites". Don't TV people realize that hum-drum doesn't play well on TV? Okay, actually, they say the hum-drum lives get turned upside down, but that's by a new neighbor who sues them to make them cut down a vine. Still sounds pretty hum-drum.
Valentine - Greek gods enter the contemporary world to play matchmaker. If the casting people found actors who were Greek godly, we would at least have something to look at every week. I'm going to try, but the one picture I've seen doesn't exactly feature Michelangelo's David and the Venus de Milo ... of course, some people might find a girl with arms a plus.
Worst Week - the commercials look horribly, abysmally bad, and since commercials are supposed to make you want to watch a show, I'm going to choose to believe them.

Remember, I am not a professional TV critic, haven't seen any of these shows (and thus don't actually know what I'm talking about. But this is what I'm basing my TV viewing on this fall.
If you're reading this and you're a network executive, instead of typing up that cease-and-desist order, think about how you could maybe try to attract someone like me who admittedly watches way too much television.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Crusoe looks like the best show coming in the new season to me. I wish I could believe it will make it. Hole in the Wall? Seriously? I hadn't seen previews on that one yet. Just wow.
-drunkenfairy

Anonymous said...

GREAT POST





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