Well, The Emmys are done with and that means every network (other than the CW, which doesn’t seem to care about the Emmys) launches their new seasons full-on in the next week or two.
Monday
Monday night finds about half of my stable of favorite shows coming back. Of course, they all overlap.
Two hour premieres of Heroes (NBC) and House (FOX) kick off at 8 p.m. New episodes of How I Met Your Mother (CBS) and Big Bang Theory (CBS) cap off the 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. slot (at 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., respectively). Things finally thin out at 10 p.m. when Castle (ABC) looks to be the only thing I’m interested in watching.
All five of those shows left us wanting more when they came to a close in the Spring. Granted, Heroes was struggling a bit to regain its narrative footing after some very poor story decisions and House is quickly running out of tricks to keep things interesting past this season.
How I Met Your Mother, though, continues to charm me with the quirky characters and hard-luck love stories of Ted and company. Sometimes I just relate a little too much to some of those characters. (Of course, that’s nowhere near as problematic as how well I related to the ensemble on Big Bang Theory… half of those outlandish conversations the geek-team has that keep everyone laughing? Yeah, I’ve been involved in those conversations in real life… it’s not too far off. This is why I keep loving this show.)
Castle was a pleasant surprise last season. There was little doubt Nathan Fillion would be fun (he always is), but after the first few episodes the chemistry with Stana Katic fell into place and it was good banter and character play from there on out. The color choices and cinematography for the show are pretty impressive, too. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you probably should.
Tuesday
Tuesday brings us a double-helping of NCIS on CBS, starting at 8 p.m. First we pick up where last season’s cliffhanger left us and then we dive right in to the West Coast deep cover work of NCIS: LA (which actually looks like it may actually be OK, based on the two hour pilot that masqueraded as two episodes of NCIS).
Since I have no desire to watch the second season of 90210 or the new iteration of Melrose Place (both of which kicked in a couple of weeks ago), the only thing the NCIS pair conflicts with is the tail end of SyFy’s new series Warehouse 13 (at 9 p.m.), which has been a lot more enjoyable than I had expected. Again, the points mostly come from good character interaction and some fun stories.
At 10 p.m. you have your choice of watching the stars of two of last seasons canned shows try again. Christian Slater (former of the kind of quirky My Own Worst Enemy, which I liked) comes back in a more standard crime drama called The Forgotten on NBC. It sounds like it’ll be some combination of CSI, Cold Case and Without a Trace. I’m not exactly excited about it.
Also at 10 p.m., over on CBS, is Julianna Margulies’ second try at a lawyer show in as many years. This time around she’s The Good Wife, apparently fighting the good fight from within the walls of an esteemed law firm, no matter what they try to get her to do instead. Sounds a little like Eli Stone without the fun, music or meaning. Best of luck former Nurse Hathaway, I think you may need it to make it past episode six.
Wednesday
Speaking of old NBC medical dramas, on Wednesday, they kick off a new one. Mercy focuses on nurses (not to be confused with the three or four other shows that are doing that this season–some of which started a few weeks ago). I don’t see much to bring me into this, but, as there’s really nothing on against it (though Gary Unmarried premieres its new season during the second half, and that was a kind of funny sitcom), I may check it out a few times.
ABC brings us two new “edgy” sitcom-type shows, Modern Family and Cougar Town, starting at 9 p.m. Both may have some humorous moments in them, but Cougar Town looks to have a little more potential as something almost worth watching. At least it’ll be OK to look at (cast includes: Courtney Cox-Arquette, Crista Miller, and Busy Phillipps, who have all been very entertaining in the past). Modern Family, though, may actually be the one to watch as it looks like it is fully capable of hitting big on satire and social commentary points.
At 10 p.m. on Wednesday, ABC introduces the one show that made just wonder “WTF?”. Seems that after 22 years, they’ve decided it’s time to put a show based on The Witches of Eastwick on TV. (They apparently tried back in 1992, but failed to sell it.) This time around, simply titled Eastwick, Rebecca Romijn, Lindsay Price and Jaime Ray Newman play our “witches”. Being a fan of the 1987 movie, these women have some pretty big shoes to fill in my book. (And we won’t even talk about how Paul Gross is going to take on a part that Nicholson made fantastic… or speculate on how the heck they’re going to stretch the plot out for a whole season, let alone multiple ones if they somehow manage to last that long.)
Thursday
On Thursday, I finally have an excuse to not watch the CW’s whiny vampire Twilight-wannabe series The Vampire Diaries. The first two episodes have been nothing short of trite, predictable and flat, at best. Especially when followed up by what looks to be the greatest season of Supernatural yet.
At 8 p.m. ABC brings us the newest strange mystery show in their line up, this time from hit-or-miss creators Brannon Braga and David S. Goyer. The premise–everyone on the planet passes out for exactly the same two minutes and wakes up remembering various points in their own futures–sounds cool enough, so I’ll be tuning in to see if they manage to keep it interesting. It could be the next Lost-level hit for ABC. Or not.
The only real downside is that it’s on opposite Bones (FOX), which is one of those great shows that I never really watch.
Thursdays at 9 p.m. is shaping up to be the crazy spot on the schedule for me. Supernatural on the CW is the must see of the hour, with FOX’s Fringe running a close second (in last week’s season premiere, there were two distinct references to the X-Files–one in the series’ setting fiction and one in the series’ setting reality… curious to see where they’re going with that). This week we also have the return of Grey’s Anatomy, which I’m now officially two seasons behind on. Not sure how the show’s doing, but people still talk about it, so it’s probably got at least one more season in it. On NBC you have The Office and Community, the latter I haven’t caught yet, but everyone knows the former draws a crowd.
Friday
The week rounds out with the return of a couple of old favorites.
At 8 p.m. Smallville returns for what we can only hope will be its final season. I don’t even know if I’m going ot bother watching any of this seasons episodes in real time. Last season was abysmal as far as continuity and story were concerned–this show should have ended a couple of years ago or, at least, segued into a Justice League spinoff.
Thankfully, in the same time slot over on CBS, The Ghost Whisperer debuts for its new season on its new network. Now the lead in to Medium, you can get two hours of ghost-influenced chicks. Should be interesting, seeing as how things were left last season with Melinda and her growing family.
Oh, there’s also the ever-present Law and Order that can be seen on NBC.
The real show I’m looking forward to is Dollhouse. Joss Whedon was lucky I stuck with him through five iffy episodes last seasons. He hooked me with episode six, though, and had me holding on for a solid ride in the second half of the season. Now, with a well-established playing field and some interesting threads running, I’m curious to see what he’s going to do with the second season.
If nothing else, it’s going to be an interesting first few weeks of the new season. I’ll be placing bets on which ones will last more than three episodes before being bounced and, ultimately, canceled by their networks. So far, my money is on any new medical drama or lawyer show to get the boot before episode six. That market is still over-full with CSIs, Law & Orders and lingering misty eyes for ER. Of course, half the shows I like are also apt to get the boot.
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