Toob Talk

Just finished watching the first two episodes of the new season of Scrubs on ABC.

I think that’ll be the last time I’ll be watching it for a while.

I’ve been a bit of a Scrubs fan since it first hit the airwaves. It was different, creative, and populated with solid actors playing horrendously quirky characters. More importantly, it was written and acted with heart.

It showed up right when we all needed some good human comedy, premiering on 2 October, 2001. All along the way, even when I wasn’t watching regularly, I could always count on the show for something worthwhile. More than once, I’ve found myself tearing up a little as an episode progressed. Always, though, the show would leave me feeling a little better and with a smile on my face.

Not so with the new season.

With such a solid finale at the end of last season, the convoluted explanation for how and why everyone is back pushed the limits, even the limits of such a wild show as Scrubs. The old hospital is gone, demolished. It’s been rebuilt attached to a college. So now everyone who’s back (which is a little over half the main and extended cast, it seems) is teaching and running rounds at the new hospital.

Oh, and there’s a new batch of med students. Half of whom seem to be clones of the original characters being groomed to replace them when they finally actually, really, leave the series (in another few episodes).

Kerry Bishé plays Lucy, who’s incessant internal monologuing would be great if it hadn’t already been JD’s shtick. Obviously, her character is going to be the main focus of the “new” show. Dave Franco’s pretty boy, self-important, womanizer (who also happens to be the son of the main money behind the college/hospital) Cole could be a gold-mine of crude humor. But he’s just a more cultured version of The Todd (who also shows up). And Michael Mosley’s Drew is the “bad boy with a heart of gold” who’s also serving as the love interest for returning character Dr. Denise Mahoney.

There is a lot of potential here. But the way things have been handled in these first two episodes obscures a lot of it. If anything, this season deserves to be treated as it’s own series. Until that happens–and that’s going to require JD, Dr. Cox, Turk, and Dr. Kelso to vanish–it’s not going to be anything other than a lackluster “extra” season to an otherwise great show.

Maybe when it’s given a chance to be it’s own show, I’ll tune back in. Until then, maybe I’ll watch if there’s nothing else on. (Of course, I do have about 40 hours of stuff on my DVR that I can watch instead…)

It looks like Comcast is well on its way to becoming part-owner of NBC-Universal.

According to a post at the New York Time DealBook blog:

General Electric has reached a tentative agreement to buy Vivendi’s 20 percent stake in NBC Universal for about $5.8 billion, helping clear the path to a sale of the television and movie company to Comcast, people briefed on the matter told DealBook.

This is one of those slightly worrisome business dealings that only gets worse the more one thinks about it.

While NBC may be faltering a bit in the regular TV network ratings, it still holds a lot of broadcast clout. Add in the stable of entertainment properties that it’s Universal branch brought in and the online suite of destinations (like Hulu) and it’s a major player across the new media board.

Comcast, of course, the largest of the big cable companies that now bring television, Internet, and voip phone service to our doorsteps.

The combined NBC-Comcast behemoth would be, without question, one of the most powerful media conglomerates around. Check out this bit of analysis from Media Daily News:

“You become a cable network,” he added. “You become the most powerful network. You would eclipse USA Network.” Malone was one of the main architects of the U.S. cable TV industry in the 1980s and 1990s — especially with his dominant cable system operation, Tele-Communications Inc.

That’s from someone who definitely knows what he’s talking about.

In the paragraph before the one quoted, Malone mentions that the best way to get to that point is for NBC to divest itself of it’s local affiliates. Not something easy to do, but not an impossibility.

Mergers like this do more to hurt the diversity of news, entertainment, and information in general than anything else around. With fewer providers, we’re left with fewer choices. And here we even have the potential for a tremendous loss of jobs (if local affiliates are, indeed, axed in the name of more power and profits).

Will the FCC step in and say something about this? That’s kind of up in the air. Over the last decade, the FCC has been going back and forth on its media ownership and saturation rules. Those are coming up for discussion again. According to the LA Times Blog Company Town:

That the FCC is looking at reevaluating how it measures media could be a good or bad thing for the industry depending on what direction the Obama administration wants to take. The consensus is that his FCC chairman, Julius Genachowski, will look more harshly on media concentration than the Bush and Clinton administrations did.

Free Press has set up a campaign to stop the merger. Josh Silver, the executive director of Free Press, said in a statement:

“Approval of such a merger would trigger a new wave of mega-mergers, as other giants like News Corp. and Disney bulk up to exert more control over new media. We don’t have to speculate about what this would mean for consumers. Decades of disastrous media consolidation have already given us higher prices, fewer independent and local voices, and the same cookie-cutter content wherever we go.”

On this, I tend to agree with him.

We’ve seen very clearly what big business can do when it gets “too big to fail”. For years we’ve let our media companies–old and new–glom together into larger and larger homogeneous hunks, all the while sliding into more and more partisan places. Polarization is not diversity. Homogeneity is not choice. And lack of competition does not breed quality. (Though these days I often wonder what does breed quality in the media.)

I’m going to wait for a few more details to come out over the next few weeks before I really start to worry, but I will be watching. If you care about your media–be it online, in print, or over the airwaves–I’d recommend you keep an eye out, too.

If this goes through and bad things happen, we have only ourselves to blame.

I finally got around to watching the remaining four hours of AMC’s new version of The Prisoner.

After watching the first two hours when they ran last week, I can’t say I was terribly impressed. It had potential, sure, but it was missing something. And it seemed a bit more surreal at times than the original (which, if you remember the original, is saying an awful lot). But, I figured, maybe the two thirds would clear some of that up.

No such luck.

First, let me give credit where credit is due. This show is darn pretty. The sets and scenery have just the right feeling of “off” to them to echo that sense of unease one should have while watching the goings on in The Village. Scenes flow pretty well from one to the other and the music choices are interesting, atmospheric, and just as disconcerting at times as the visuals. James Caviezel as Number Six does an adequate job (with what he was given to work with) and Ian McKellan as Number Two catches some fantastic nuances of that character as it’s written in this iteration.

But none of that good stuff can balance out the lack of spunk and downright disjointed writing that fills the space between good bits.

Without question, there should be some of that off-balance and lost feeling in this show. The main character doesn’t know what’s going on, where he is, why he’s there–he doesn’t even have a clear memory of who he is. It shouldn’t all make sense. There should, however, be some baseline of “normal” to judge things by. For a while, it seems like there is, but as the hours drag on (pacing is another issue all together), things become more and more surreal and disjointed instead of more coherent.

Having watched all six hours, I’m pretty sure I know what the point was and what the filmmakers were trying to do with their splicing together of two (or three?) realities and time lines. It was done sloppily. The cues separating one from the other just fell apart, leaving the narrative dangling in an ambiguous space.

Which would be fine if this were some avant garde art film with a two hour or so run-time. In a six hour television series, you’re not going to make any friends with your viewers if you do this–unless you do it very, very well. (HBO’s Carnivale managed to do something similar to what The Prisoner has attempted, but managed to keep it organized and tight enough that it didn’t get in the way of the story.)

The problem of lack of solid ground to stand on was exacerbated by total lack of story flow from one hour to the next. More than once, I was left wondering if I’d missed something important–if there was some reason Number Six or Number Two or someone else was suddenly behaving very differently than he had been. Some of it is explained, but too much of it just “is”.

Worst of all, though, this Number Six spends most of his time brooding, moping, or swooning. Lacking is the sharp and impassioned verbal banter between Six and Two that was a high point of a number of episodes of the original show. The rivalry–and kinship–between the two key characters is much more subtle and drawn out. Again, something that would be OK if there was more solid ground to set it against.

Over all, I’m less than impressed with what AMC did to this franchise. It managed to suck out most of the life and all of the mystery while adding nothing but some pretty scenery and confusion.

It comes out on DVD in March. Without some very compelling special features, there’s no way I’ll be buying it. I’ll stick to the full box set of the original series I picked up years ago (which, oddly, I still haven’t gotten around to watching all of).

Things in the world outside of that box in front of my couch have kept me a bit behind on much of the new season and a wee bit too busy to get down most of my thoughts. So, here you go, in a short-ish format.

Heroes is wobbling along, sometimes more steady than others. There are some interesting new characters, but a strong, clear theme that helped make season one a popular and critical success–and was missing from the subsequent seasons–is still nowhere near strong enough to raise the show above the bad taste the last season left in many people’s mouths. I think the writers may be biting off more than they can chew by keeping the number of “main” characters as high as they have. Old habits, I guess. I do like the traveling carnival that’s been introduced, though… lots of potential there, especially after this week’s episode.

Castle is still a lot of fun. As a police procedural, it leaves a lot to be desired (man, the cop work is really not that good at all), but as a bunch of pulpy, camp-leaning characters, it is full of win. NathanFillion and Stana Katic are getting even better bouncing dialog off one another and the supporting cast is getting a little more time to shine. If you’re looking for a serious show, don’t bother. If you’re looking for something that’s got some cheese in it, then Castle is where to find it.

The Forgotten, I watched one episode of it and decided it was better left to live out its title. As much as I want to love Christian Slater in anything he does, this show just didn’t grab me at all. I would have been much happier if his vehicle from last season, My Own Worst Enemy, had survived.

Mercy was another show I only bothered to catch one or two episodes of. While it’s fun to see Michelle Trachtenberg (once again) play a sparkly, naive, newbie, it mostly felt just like every other modern hospital drama that I’ve seen ads for.

Modern Family has been a pleasant surprise from the first episode on. The show has heart and a kind of quirky sense of humor about half the stuff in it. The other half is standard sitcom fodder, but is usually carried out with just enough push from the cast that it works. Everything I’ve seen in it so far has either made me laugh or smile, and I’ve always felt better after watching an episode. That’s more than I can say for most shows I’ve ever watched.

Cougar Town had a first episode that just left me not wanting more at all. The way the main character was written in the first episode, co-star Krista Miller would have been a better fit for the lead than Courtney Cox. They seem to have fixed that problem now. The comedy now fits with Cox’s appearance better, making the whole character more sympathetic and, overall, much more funny. They still try a little too hard at times, though… and it looks like this week’s episode is going to be full of “trying too hard” moments.

Eastwick has been a very pleasant surprise. I had more then a bit of trepidation going in, seeing as how I absolutely love the film, but the cast and writers have done a good job of adding enough depth and breadth to the story to keep it interesting and on-message. The leads are doing fantastic jobs bringing three very different characters to life–different from one another and different from the 1987 film, which is good because they are different characters in a different time. Even Paul Gross is doing a good enough job to make me believe his Darryl Van Horne isn’t Nicholson’s in a good way.

Flashforward has a lot of potential. So far, we’ve seen a few different ways of dealing with characters who know a little bit of the future. They’re pacing the questions and answers (and red herrings that may not be so red or so herring) well early on, so they may actually have a plan for where this all is going. At the absolute least, we’re getting some good haunted looks from members of the core cast. If they ratchet up the strange factor just a little bit, they could be on par with early seasons of Lost for water cooler discussion factor. As it is, while I’m hooked, I question if they’ll be able to keep enough of the general population interested to keep themselves on the air.

Supernatural is in its best season yet… and it looks like its only going to get better as it goes on. Last week had a killer Abe Lincoln and Gandhi–with Paris Hilton as a guest star–and it worked fantastically! Sometime in the future, it looks like we’re up for a 70s sitcom inspired demonic infestation and numerous other things that I’m sure will leave me wanting more–but also hoping that the show goes out on top, before it all goes to hell.

Fringe is really ready to take the X-File mantel as “strange FBI show”… but it’s got more scifi in it than Mulder and Scully ever ran into. Kind of hard to avoid when your key plot involves interdimensional travel. The important part is, their characters have grown a lot since the first episode of the series and are now really coming into their own (both literally and figuratively). This is another I’m going to keep watching until they cancel it.

Smallville… I’ve only been able to make myself watch the series premier so far. And that… well… I’d have to go back and check but I think they have once againretconned their own continuity. I really hate that. The plots are also looking more and more ridiculous–some of them look to be right out of the Silver Age comics,wich were always downright silly. Again I say, this show should have ended a few seasons ago and we should be watching The Justice League instead.

Dollhouse has continued its upswing since episode six of season one. They’ve made some compelling changes to the show and have really piqued my curiosity on some other areas of how things work inside theDollhoue. The inevitable bleed-through of past imprints on some of the dolls has been distinctly creepy and sweet to see happen.

There’ll be more once I have the time to dig into the DVR and hit up Hulu.com for back episodes… and then there’s movies I want to talk about, too. Oh, but for more time in a day!

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.

According to Movieweb.com, come November, Farscape will finally be available in one complete box set.

Some of us have been waiting a very long time for this.

Twice before the series started to get released, first in bulky, expensive, partial season boxes then in the more streamlined, slightly less expensive, and no less partial “Starburst” edition sets. I know I sank well over $200 into the most of season one that I have before I gave up (when the Starburst sets started to come out). I vowed to never buy another set of Farscape DVDs until I was sure they were going to be done right.

Well, a full series set for about $150 with what sounds like all the extras from the previous versions, plus some new stuff, is right enough for me.

If you’re a sci-fi fan and haven’t seen Farscape, you’re missing out. Created by Rockne S. O’Bannon (who did some fantastic work on The New Twilight Zone back in the late 80s), it tells the story of John Chrichton (Ben Browder), an American test pilot who finds himself thrown an unknown distance across the universe and surrounded by aliens (a number of which–including two main characters–who were provided by the Henson Creature Shop). The ever-growing ensemble cast brought together some of the most fun actors science fiction has to offer: Claudia Black, Anthony Simcoe, Gigi Edgley, Lani Tupu and Virginia Hey to start with more added as the story progressed.

A solid mix of drama, humor and homage to what’s come before it, Farscape was the best thing on the SciFi Channel (now SyFy) right up until they unceremoniously canceled it.

Come November, the whims of a network program director won’t matter any more. We’ll all be able to indulge in the adventures of the motley crue of escaped convicts trying to do the right thing (and stay alive).

Have you ever fallen for someone without even knowing what they look like? Maybe it was on the phone or, more likely these days, over the Internet. Even then, imagine not seeing a picture of them at all until just before it’s time to make the decision to date them in the real world or not.

That, in a nutshell, is the premise behind the newest reality relationship experiment show, Dating in the Dark.

Three men and three women–most surprisingly close to average looking–spend four days getting to know one another. The catch is, the only time a man and woman can be in the same place together is in the dark room between the two wings of the requisite mansion they’re staying in.

And when they say “dark” they mean dark. The only light in that room comes from the infrared lamps that provide illumination for the infrared camera. Not a drop of visible light. This becomes quite obvious as we get to watch the two potential suitors stumble about trying to find one another and avoid the furniture.

Unlike most other “competition” dating shows, like The Bachelor or The Bachelorette,  there is no prize and no actual competition. There are no silly physical challenges or trivia contests. Nothing that purposely tries to bring out the worst in the participants.

On the contrary, much like the first few iterations of Beauty and the Geek, Dating in the Dark is much more of a social experiment we all get to watch. Sure, they throw in some neat little twists–like having professional sketch artists come in to draw pictures of how each side thinks the other looks. (In the fist episode, the guys were pretty darn close in their descriptions of the women… the women, not so much.)

Most of the action takes place in that dark room where we get to see everything the participants can’t. That in and of itself is an interesting twist. In the dark, it’s easy to forget there’s a camera there. People behave differently, are more open. And when the only company they have is the sound of someone else’s voice and, perhaps, the phantom touch of that invisible other, people can surprise themselves.

After an initial group meeting, each participant chooses one member of the opposite sex to spend some time with. Once that meeting is over, they’re all told who the “experts” (who’ve studied the massive personality tests and questionnaires they participants have filled out) think would match up best. From there on out, the participants can choose to focus on one person or continue to make time with others.

Not surprisingly, with only four days and a handful of meetings to be had, all the participants chose to spend most of their time with their expert-made match.

Right before time in the house is up, the pairs get to see one another for the first time. Again it takes place in the dark room, but this time there is a single spotlight that briefly shines down, revealing first one participant and then the other. Neither can see the other’s reaction–but we can, thank to the infrared cameras.

After that last shock to the system, each participant must decide if they’re willing to leave the house with their partner.

In the first episode, there were a couple of nice surprises. The participants were wonderfully realistic in their attitudes and reactions, not at all the over-the-top cartoons that most reality shows trot out in front of the camera. All of them seem to have done some serious thinking about what they usually look for in the opposite sex and at least considered re-evaluating their habits.

Looking at the ratings, the show did pretty well, pulling in just 200,000 fewer than its seasoned lead in, The Bachelorette.

Only the next few episodes will tell if it was curiosity or actual interest that made people tune in. Going through an entire “cast” each week is a risk most reality shows haven’t taken in a long time, relying on the familiar faces (and conflicts) to keep bringing viewers back. I admire the producers for taking that chance.

I think it will be fascinating to see how a good sized sample of participants react. Hopefully, they won’t change the process too much every week (it looks like they’ve swapped out at least one “getting to know you” bit for episode two).

If you liked Beauty and the Geek (before they started with the stunt casting and willful manipulation of the contestants), you should definitely check out Dating in the Dark. If Survivor or Rock of Love more suits your tastes, you may not be all that entertained… but you may be reminded of just how human even people on a TV show can be.

Fox just ran a two-hour TV movie that’s obviously a set up for a series. I think it would be a pretty good one.

Virtuality is set on board the first deep-space exploration vessel Phaeton. The crew has been picked for their various areas of expertise… and how interesting they’ll be on camera. See, part of the plan for their 10 year trip in search of a new place for humans to move to is to broadcast the day to day goings on of life aboard the ship.

Kind of like The Real World: Deep Space.

And that’s pretty much how the story plays out.

All the conflicts and interpersonal drama framed like your typical reality show. At first, I found it a bit annoying. But by the halfway point, I was kind of caught up in the actual sci-fi aspects of the story. See, the real hook is the virutal reality gear that the crew uses to alleviate the boredom of long-term close-quarters living. Of course, there’s also the ubiquitous ship computer (named Jean) with the erily calm demeanor, no matter what’s going on.

Oh, and then there’s the strange guy who keeps showing up in the crew’s VR sessions. He tends to do things like shoot them and push them off mountains during otherwise peaceful and relaxing happenings.

By the end–which really wasn’t a sutiable end for a stand-alone movie–there’s a whole lot of mystery and the crew is locked in to their long trip to another star.

The cast is pretty good: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (New Amsterdam), Clea DuVall (Carnivale), Sienna Guillory (Eragon) all raise the quality far enough above “reality TV” level that the show is watchable. The mystery, though, is what makes it interesting.

That mystery is co-written by Battlestar Galactica’s Ronald D. Moore.

Here’s the official Fox Preview of the show:

One of my all-time favorite “mini-series events” was the original V–a story about aliens showing up, offering the hand of friendship, and enriching the lives of all on Earth.

Well, almost all. All except the ones they were planning on eating, manipulating or enslaving (to eat later).

After that first mini-series, there was a second one and a short lived (and infinitely inferior) regular series. There was even a comic book and toys. It was a pretty big deal and I’m pretty sure anyone my age or older will remember it quite well.

ABC, apparently at a loss for new ideas yet again, is now doing it again. This time as a 13 episode arc to air in the winter season (what some places are still calling mid-season, but lets be honest, we’re into four TV seasons now no matter how you want to pretend). Needless to say, I’m skeptical of the quality of writing we’ll see.

But, there were just recently released some promo clips and I’m a little less skeptical now. Here, take a look:

These are acceptably creepy and full of subtle menace. This could be very, very good. I’m willing to give it a chance… especially with the cast that’s involved.

Not too terribly long ago, I was singing the praises of Kings, by far one of the most literary things to hit network TV in a while.

After running four relatively unpromoted episodes on Sunday nights, NBC let the show skip a week before showling this past week’s episode on Saturday at 8 p.m. Not that they mentioned much loudly about the move. Now, after that one Saturday airing, the show’s been moved again, this time to June (but still on Saturdays).

So, for all intents and purposes, this already fully filmed series that only has seven episodes left in its arc is dead. The network will claim it’s because no one watched it. I’d contend that it’s more a case of no one knowing it was there to watch and then a case of those of us who did know about it, not knowing we had to follow it somewhere else to see more.

I see this sort of thing happen with a disturbing level of frequency among shows I like. Some manage to survive a little bit longer, most don’t.

The good news is, you can pre-order the first season right now (Kings – Season One), and that’s something I’d highly recommend as it may be the only way you’ll be able to see all of it.

This past week saw the premiere of a handful of U.S. remakes of shows originally done for other channels in other countries. Life on Mars, Eleventh Hour and Kath & Kim seem to be the three big ones currently being pushed. I caught all three. I also haven’t seen the original versions of any of them.

Life on Mars seems worth watching for three things: The Soundtrack, Harvey Keitel and Gretchen Mol. Not necessarily in that order. After the first episode, it feels an awful lot like Journeyman (or any of the other numerous Quantum Leap style shows that’ve been done since QL did it best) mashed up with TJ Hooker. Some of it is kind of like how I’d imagine CSI: The Past would be. The actor in the lead, Jason O’Mara, just doesn’t do it for me. Neither does the non-too-subtle bleed through of the present (especially the hospital sounds) into the past (or the future into the show’s present, as the case may be). I was hoping for a little more ambiguity than I’ve gotten so far. I don’t see it lasting, mostly because it’s so close in theme and execution as most of the shows that got canceled last season. Maybe in the next few episodes, it’ll do something to impress me. I’m not going to hold my breath.

Eleventh Hour was OK. I like the female lead, Marley Shelton, better than I like her counterpart in Fringe. The plot we have so far, though, leaves a bit to be desired. I’m OK with the big science mystery line, but Fringe beat them to the punch and has a crazier scientist character. If I could scramble the two shows together, I think we’d have a real winner. Until then, I’m on the fence with this one as much as I am with Fringe–it has potential, but I don’t know if it’ll get the chance to find it’s stride before it tanks.

Kath & Kim is utter and complete trash. Selma Blair, I love you dearly, but, damn girl, this show… why? You did your turn as trash in a John Waters movie, no need to revisit that as an inferior interpretation on the small screen. The really sad thing is that this show is even a waste of Molly Shannon’s talents. There isn’t a single likable character. They’re all dull and loud and oblivious. If I want that, all I have to do is hit the mall on any given day. Or, you know, watch news about the Republican vice presidential ticket. At most, this show’s getting one more half hour of my time to make me laugh and not groan. (And that’s only if I can fit it in between reruns of the original Addams Family.)

Of course, of these three shows, Kath & Kim will probably be the biggest hit.

As of this season of Smallville we have:

• Most of the stories taking place in Metropolis
• Clark working at The Daily Planet
• With Lois
• and an obvious romantic interest in him on her part

Is it just me, or does that make it Lois and Clark more than Smallville?

Also, no Lex or Lionel Luther to be had so far.

Makes me wonder why I still bother watching the show…

Continuing on with the look at the fall season, we slip quietly into October. (If you’re playing along with the home game, all this is coming from this TV Guide.com calendar which is exceptionally useful.)

Pushing Daisies (ABC, 8 p.m., Wednesdays)

This show really hit the spot last season. It was whimsical, quirky, uplifting and, at times, downright touching. It also carried through a perverse sense of humor and amazing visual style that left me really wanting more when it’s too-short season came to close. Who would have thought the tale of a pie maker and his once dead girlfriend could be so good for family entertainment? (Premieres Oct. 1)

Private Practice (ABC, 9 p.m., Wednesdays)

As much as I like Grey’s Anatomy, it’s spinoff just didn’t do it for me. At all. I’m actually almost surprised that it’s back for a second season. I say “almost” because it’s a show about pretty people having petty problems while screwing around with one another. It’s got “popular hit” written all over it. Well, you can have it. I’m sure I can find something better to do with this hour. (Premieres Oct. 1)

Dirty Sexy Money (ABC, 10 p.m. , Wednesdays)

Big egos, big spenders, dark secrets and a murder mystery, Dirty Sexy Money has it all. Plus Donald Sutherland. This show actually surprised me last season by being as enjoyable and engaging as it was. I’ve been eagerly awaiting its return–as much to see what the mega-rich Darling family will do next as to find out where the next set of clues in the underlying murder plot lead. (Premieres Oct. 1)

The Ghost Whisperer (CBS, 8 p.m., Fridays)

During its first season, The Ghost Whisperer left me in kind of a diabetic coma. Jennifer Love Hewitt was too cute and sunny for someone who had spent her life dealing with dead people. It wasn’t until a couple of seasons in when the show took a little bit of a darker turn that I came back to it. I haven’t been able to let it go since. Last season, with the discovery of the town beneath the town and impending doom around every corner, I think the show hit a high point. Now I’m curious as to whether they can keep the suspense and momentum going. It’s no Supernatural, but, thankfully, it’s also not Touched By An Angel. (Premieres Oct. 3)

Kath & Kim (NBC, 8:30 p.m., Thursdays)

Chalk up another notch in the “American version of a hit foreign show” column. This one looks to be a “revisioning” of an Aussie show (one of, what, three or four shows that whole continent produces?) The only thing bringing me to this with any hope is Selma Blair. She was one of the key ingredients in making Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane fun and watchable, I’m hoping she does the same for this show. And she’s got a lot to overcome, because none of the characters look that interesting (let alone sympathetic). (Premieres Oct. 9)

Life On Mars (ABC, 10 p.m., Thursdays)

Speaking of American versions of shows that there don’t need to be American versions of… Life on Mars (U.S. version) reportedly changes just about all the details of the BBC show it’s borrowing it’s title from. I’ve been told again and again that I should check out the original (and I will, I promise… it’s on my list!). That tells me the American version is going to have to work pretty hard to either a) dull itself down enough to get a prime-time following here in the states or b) die a quick death like every other time travel flavored show from last season (Journeyman, New Amsterdam). Guess we’ll just have to wait and see. (Premieres Oct. 9)

Eleventh Hour (CBS, 10 p.m., Thursdays)

Competing for the “strange hour of TV on Thursday” slot against Life on Mars is yet another re-tooling of a foreign show. Again it “borrows” plot and characters from the British. This time around Rufus Sewell replaces Patrick Stuart as a guy investigating strange goings on. A plot that sounds oddly like Fringe, which beat this show to air by a few weeks. It’s bound to be another CSI meets Twilight Zone, X-Files wannabe. But I’ll give Sewell a chance. It could be better than Fringe (which I still haven’t decided if I like or not). (Premieres Oct. 9)

Samantha Who? (ABC, 9:30 p.m., Mondays)

I stand firmly behind the idea that you just can’t go wrong with Christina Applegate. Ever since she broke out of the dumb blond role that made her famous, she’s done one good thing after another. The inaugural season of Samantha Who? took a tired concept (character gets amnesia) and brought a new life to it. A strong supporting cast certainly helped, but Applegate is the heart of the show. I’m curious as to whether her real-life battle with breast cancer will get worked into the plot. It wouldn’t surprise me and I don’t doubt it would fit well with the blend of humor and introspection the show has cultivated. (Premieres Oct. 13)

My Own Worst Enemy (NBC, 10 p.m., Mondays)

Speaking of characters who don’t know who they are, here we have Christian Slater playing a hit man and a family man. Two very different lives crammed into the same body due to some deep-cover, sleeper agent brain tweaking. I don’t know if it’s going to be good, but it will be entertaining. At least for a few episodes. I have my doubts if it can be sustained for a while, but I had doubts about Chuck, too, and that just kicked off its second season in a good way. (Premieres Oct. 13)

Eli Stone (ABC, 10 p.m., Tuesdays)

Just in case you don’t have enough quirky lawyers in your diet, Eli Stone apparently returns to life from his first season cliffhanger ending. Either that or this will be the shortest second season ever. The show never really grabbed me, but it was always entertaining. Most of the time, though, it felt like a low-rent David E. Kelley riff. There’s just something missing, which is a shame because Victor Garber is fantastic in his supporting role. Maybe this season will have more song and dance numbers… not sure how much that would help, but, again: entertaining! (Premieres Oct. 14)

Crusoe (NBC, 10 p.m., Fridays)

Hey! It’s the original Lost! come back in the form of an hour long drama. I really haven’t seen a whole lot on this show, but I’ll tune in just to see how far they’ll go to mash as many shows together as possible in the attempt to make a new hit. But it’s on Friday nights at 10 p.m., not much lasts there for long. I give it four episodes tops before it’s gone. (Premieres Oct. 17)

And there you go–your new fall season… or at least the things I’ll be watching or actively avoiding. Everything else, you’re on your own for.

Tonight’s one of those nights my digital recorders will be doing overtime.

NBC is doing a three hour Heroes extravaganza starting with a catchup lead-in at 8 p.m. and then two hours of new episode. After faltering a bit last season, I still have high hopes for Heroes to wow me in those two new hours.

Of course, while I’m watching all of that, I’ll be recording (or otherwise time-shifting) four other hours of TV shows.

Season premiers of two of my favorite sitcoms drop at 8 and 8:30 p.m. on CBS–The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother. And over on Fox there’s a new episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which has consistently kicked ass this season.

The 9 o’clock hour isn’t bad as I can take or leave Two and a Half Men (which was infinitely funnier in its first few seasons than it has been the last few times I watched it) and have very little interest in Worst Week.

At 10 p.m. the DVR will kick back in to see what Shatner and Spader are up to on the new season of Boston Legal. There’s some question as to if the show will continue to slide deeper into self-parody and lose what charm it has left, but I know it’ll still be worth it for those David E. Kelley character tirades on current issues. Having Denny and Alan argue during an election year should be interesting.

As we move into October (the “official” start of the new season), there are going to be more nights like this–with multiple hours accruing on the DVR and in my online viewing queues. It’s all part of the challenge of keeping up with what very well be my most time-consuming (and alternately inspiring and frustrating) hobby.

The season premier of the new HBO series True Blood quite pleasantly surprised me.

After last season’s less than spectacular experience with Moonlight, I was really wary of another vampire series. Even if it was from the same guy who gave us Six Feet Under and starred Anna Paquin. Was it going to be a sappy love story? Yet another angsty bunch of worthless vamps? So campy it would make the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie look good?

Before the premiere, HBO ran two half-hour documentary/promo bits on vampires. Those were interesting. Not a whole lot of new info for me, but at least it proved that someone had done their research and knew what had piqued public interest in bloodsuckers before. That gave me a small bit of hope. Especially the interview snippets with Charline Harris, the author of the book series the show is based on.

And so, after an hour of indulging in vampire nostalgia (which, oddly, only had one reference to Buffy in it… during a montage of pretty much every vampire thing ever made), I was ready to sink my teeth into the new show.

It did not leave a bad taste in my mouth at all. In fact, it seems like it will be quite the breath of fresh air.

What makes it different? First and foremost, vampires aren’t hiding any more. They’re right out there in the open–”out of the coffin”, in the show’s vernacular–thanks to the invention of a synthetic blood that removes their need to feed on humans. Now they’re struggling for equal rights and being subjected to that awful novelty that any recently unveiled minority/fringe group experiences. Being set in the south, the tension between the species may run a little too close to mirroring the tension between races for some… but I think it’s just the right distance and difference to allow some interesting exploration of the subject.

Sociological analysis aside, the show is populated with characters that should prove to be quite interesting. Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) is a waitress in the Louisiana town of Bon Temps. She’s more than open minded about the whole vampire thing–she’s downright exuberant about it in the cutest/most annoyingly naive way possible. The combination actually works out to be kind of endearing with Paquin in the part. But if the tone of the show plays through like Alan Ball’s other big deal HBO show, there will be some big and tragic changes ahead for pure little Sookie.

Her apparent lack of understanding of just how dangerous people can be (let alone vampires) allows her over-active sense of justice (fueled by her ability to listen in to people’s thoughts–yes, she’s a psychic) to bring her to the rescue of new vampire in town Bill (Stephen Moyer) when he’s picked out at the diner and targeted to be drained of his blood (which has some powerful effects on humans, making it quite the lucrative drug to trade in).

Since half the fun is watching it all play out, I won’t spoil anything more than that. Just know that the supporting cast is is full of quirky characters that are bound to stir up trouble and interesting situations as the series goes on. Oh, and I’m betting we already have at least one werewolf in town.

Needless to say, I highly recommend checking out the show. For a pilot episode, this one was pretty solid. Some of the characters may have been a little  too cartoonish, but I’m expecting that they’ll flesh out and develop now that we know their broad strokes.

The show’s got teeth, that’s for sure. And it bites just the way a vampire show should–with style and intensity.

Along with what I would suspect was millions of people much younger than I am, I tuned in to catch the series premier of 90210 on The CW.

I have to say, it was a lot better than I expected.

Granted, I’ve got this huge nostalgia bank saved up from the first few years of the parent series. I was there on the Walshes first day at West Beverly High back in October of 1990 and stuck with them until a couple years after they graduated (unlike some other people, I didn’t stick with that show for all ten years… and I didn’t make the jump to Melrose Place). Even without that background, I think the new show was considerably better than I expected.

While it was good to see Kelly (Jennie Garth) show up and reference things that happened when she and new high school principal Harry (Rob Estes… who wasn’t actually on the original 90210… but was on Melrose as a different character than he’s playing now… trippy, man…) were in high school together, the real joy came from watching the new fish out of water get the feel for the good ol’ currents of the school.

Granted, this being the 21st century and all, they catch on a lot quicker than Brenda and Brandon ever did. Heck, they’re lying, cheating and zipping away on private jets. Yeah, this most certainly isn’t my 90210.

But that’s what I liked about it. It didn’t rely on the nostalgia. Instead, it did what any show should do: it made its own way. The characters, while easy to spot the correlation and commonalities with other “hip” new shows are individual enough to not get totally lost in the teen-drama shuffle that The CW caters to so well. And even with the Kansas-born Wilson kids successfully stooping to the shallow level of their West Beverly peers, they still manage to maintain the special mid-west wholesomeness that adds the necessary contrast and perspective that made the original show worth-while.

There’s even a bit of snark in the teen characters. Some of the action and dialog had the vague echoes of Veronica Mars to it. (And those of you who know me, know that echoing VM or Gilmore Girls is a sure-fire way to at least get me interested.)

For a pilot, it was a bit packed. A lot of blatant introductions. A lot of odd timing and seemingly contrived situations. (Like why was the new principal starting a week into the school year?) Maybe these things will be explored more in the episodes that come. I know we’ll be seeing more alumni of the original show. I predict a visit from Ian Ziering before the mid-way point this season. And I would almost pay for Luke Perry to show up, preferably while Doherty’s all grown up Brenda is still in town.

If you missed the premier, find a way to catch it. Dollars to donuts it’ll be up online somewhere… and probably rebroadcast anther time or two over the next week.

Don’t get me wrong, just because you grew up watching the original doesn’t mean you’ll love this one. But you may find it interesting how much has changed… and how much has stayed the same.

You know, just like any high school.

There are a lot of new and old shows on their way back. A lot of them, I’ve watched or am looking forward to watching. There’s also a bunch I’m dreading or that I’ve given up on. You can make your own plans using this handy dandy calendar of premieres over at TV Guide.com.

NCIS (Tuesdays, 8 pm, CBS)

As spin-offs go, NCIS has done quite well for itself. I’d be tempted to say it’s gotten even better than JAG, it’s parent show. As with every previous season, last season’s finale left me wondering how, exactly, the team would continue pushing on. Granted, over the years, a bit more humor and self parody have crept in. Hopefully the balance will hold and this season will be a good one. But, hey, as long as I get me some Pauley Perrette, all is good. (Premiers 8/23)

The Mentalist (Tuesdays, 9 pm, CBS)

The new show stuck in the middle of CBS’s crime-time Tuesdays looks an awful lot like the cable gem Psych, except with a little more class. Then again, Simon Baker always brings a little class to the shows he’s in. While that wasn’t enough to save Smith a couple seasons ago, he did manage to make The Guardian a pretty decent series (even if the premise was flimsy to begin with). Maybe The Mentalist will click, maybe it won’t. I’m not sure how I feel about it. But I’m willing to give it a chance. (Premieres 8/23)

Knight Rider (Wednesdays, 8 pm, NBC)

OK, so some parts of the recent TV movie that revived the Night Rider franchise weren’t totally horrible. But enough of them were to make me seriously concerned that this iteration of the idea will be as bad as those that have come before–like, as bad as the original, except without the fun. I’ve been of the opinion that they should have just gone for a total reboot of the series instead of tying it in to the original. And, y’know, stuck with the Trans Am. I’ve seen some possible leaks of script bits and the ads that have been running lately and neither of them do anything to increase my confidence in this doing anything other than tarnishing my golden memories of The Hoff and his sweet ride. (Premieres 8/24)

Lipstick Jungle (Wednesdays, 10 pm, NBC)

This show I tuned in to mainly for Brooke Shields. I’m a fan from way back… like when she showed up on the original Muppet show and stuff. I was suitably impressed by the rest of the cast to keep coming back. Last season progressed well through the lives of all the key characters. Yes, it’s got a bit of a Sex in the City vibe, but it’s also a little more grown up. And I, for one, will proudly keep watching to see where it goes this season. (At least I’ll keep watching until it starts to really suck… then it’s all on its own.) (Premieres 8/25)

Grey’s Anatomy (Thursdays, 9 pm, ABC)

Despite the fact that I keep wishing death on the title character, I keep watching. (Please! Can’t she just stay dead the next time it happens… there’s another Grey on the show now… I like her a lot better.) Overall, the show is pretty solid and a tremendous amount of fun most of the time. Last season was really a time for many of the supporting cast to shine. And all the guest bits over the years have been spectacular. The show has been generally well-written, so as long as the continues, I’ll probably keep watching. (Premieres 8/26)

ER (Thursdays, 10 pm, NBC)

This show is entering its 15th season. I stopped watching regularly at least five seasons ago. They’ve done every story they could do. In fact, they did that about ten years ago. All they’ve done now is stretch the bounds of reality to ridiculous lengths and swapped out old characters from the old plots. I say all this because it seems the network is finally putting this lame horse down. I will watch the last episode of ER with as much excitement as I watched the first episode back in September of 1994. If only to make sure it’s over.

Chuck (Mondays, 8 pm, NBC)

OK, I’ll admit, I consider this show a guilty pleasure. It’s generally light, fun and full of action and sexy sexy women. It was just announced that NBC has picked up another nine episodes of Chuck, giving it a lock on a full season before the first bit of ratings are even in. If this show is to really thrive, though, it’s got to get more creative and things need to expand in scope. Having two main jokes (“haha look at the geeky guy and the hot girl together, isn’t that cute and awkward?” and “Ooo! He’s got all sorts of stuff in his head but he doesn’t always read it right.”) is good for one short season. Much more than that and you need to grow your operating paradigm before it gets really silly. After all, Chuck’s not getting any new super secret information in that database he’s got in his head–that stuff’s getting old quick.

Life (Mondays, 10 pm, NBC)

Life is another one of the few shows that caught me off guard with just how good it was. The plot is interesting but the presentation by Damian Lewis of quirky cop Crews is what really seals the deal. One part zen master, one part vindictive, sadistic vengeance-seeker, one part damn fine cop… that’s a character I can get behind and be endlessly fascinated by. My biggest fear is that too many people won’t “get” the show and it’ll be bounced around the schedule a few times before being unceremoniously and quietly canceled.

And that more or less wraps up the new/returning stuff that I give a damn about in September. But, as seasons continue to become more amorphous, a good handful of show premieres have crept into October. More on those later…

There are a lot of new and old shows on their way back. A lot of them, I’ve watched or am looking forward to watching. There’s also a bunch I’m dreading or that I’ve given up on. You can make your own plans using this handy dandy calendar of premieres over at TV Guide.com.

House (Tuesdays, 9 pm, FOX)

From the first episode, I’ve loved this show. Last season, they shook things up a bit adding in a bunch of new cast members and moving most of the familiar supporting cast to the background. The final two hours of the season were mind-blowing and unusually emotional for the show. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t terribly curious to see how those events effect our favorite heartless healer and his only real friend. (Premieres 9/16)

Smallville (Thursdays, 8 pm, CW)

I don’t know why I still bother with this show. It has proved again and again to be one of the most unevenly scripted, acted and directed things on TV. They’ve diverged far from the “normal” Superman cannon and introduced so many quirks and conspiracies that it gives The X-Files a run for its money. But the good episodes are incredibly good. And so I keep watching, suffering through the crap to catch those ever-fewer nuggets of gold (like last seasons Luther on Luther confrontations–those were fantastic). (Premieres 9/18)

Supernatural (Thursdays, 9 pm, CW)

Of course, Supernatural may be the reason I sit through Smallville. This show has consistently nailed the horror genre. There have been episodes that were more terrifying than half the R-rated horror films I’ve seen over the years. The Winchester brothers play wonderful off of one another, which is going to make this season particularly interesting seeing how last season (inevitably) ended. (Premieres 9/18)

The Big Bang Theory (Mondays, 8 pm, CBS)

I almost didn’t watch this show again after its premiere episode. I’m glad I did. It quickly became my favorite new sitcom… and one of my favorite sitcoms of all time (so far). Maybe I relate a little too much to the characters, but the dialog and situations are hilarious regardless of how much one can directly relate. If you haven’t seen it, tune in and watch it. (Premieres 9/22)

How I Met Your Mother (Mondays, 8:30 pm, CBS)

This show is one of the rare cases where a show I really liked has not only survived, but thrived. When it premiered, I tuned in mostly to see what Allison Hannigan would do not playing a Joss Whedon character. I stayed because of the rest of the cast. Again we have a very consistent series where the show runners and the actors know their characters well enough to keep the writers in line (or, at least, smartly pick the right writers for their show… a lesson that could be learned by a good number of higher-budget shows). HIMYM has the perfect mix of ridiculous situations, nostalgia, romance and Niel Patrick Harris. I just hope they end it before they run out of funny. I’d really hate to have to hate this show. (Premiers 9/22)

Heroes (Mondays, 9 pm, NBC)

The first season of Heroes caught me a little off guard by how tightly plotted and solid it was… and how seriously it took itself. Things floundered a little in the second season–some poor scripting decisions and character introductions cluttered things up and then the writers’ strike cut things short. Being cut short, in fact, is probably the best thing that happened to season two. It makes it more of a transition than anything else. The upcoming third season looks like it’s going to be a total blockbuster. The first season gave us a big-deal threat to worry about–now we’re getting something more. We’re getting the real conflict, internal and external, between heroes and villains. I’m kind of excited about it. (Premieres 9/22)

Worst Week (Mondays, 9:30 pm, CBS)

Yet another in a series of what I like to call “lowest common denominator” sitcoms. Everything about this show looks trashy and insulting. No need for wit, just debasing insult humor. It’ll probably be a big hit for a little while, then the novelty will wear off and, before the end of the season, it will be gone. When that happens, TV will be a better place. (Premieres 9/22)

Boston Legal (Mondays, 10 pm, ABC)

I love me some quirky lawyers–especially when they’re written by David E. Kelley. I do, however, worry that this show has gone about as far as it can without devolving into total self-parody (and it was already pretty far into “wink, wink, nudge, nudge, look we’re a TV show” territory). Hopefully, this season will continue to walk that fine line between comedy-parody and biting social commentary. And more Shatner actually acting would be nice… the serious episodes with Denny as the focus were some of the best last season.

Still more next time…

It’s that time again!

A handful of returners and a smattering of new shows begin showing up this week. TV Guide has a very useful little calendar, so you can plan your viewing (or time shifting) accordingly. As usual, I’ll be watching a whole lot of what shows up. But before that, I think there’s already some clear winners and losers out there.

Prison Break (Mondays, 8 pm, Fox)

When this show kicked off the early debuts a few years back, it surprised me greatly. Last season, after I had cheered the tense planning and execution of the escape (season 1) and sat on the edge of my seat while the escapees eluded capture and exposed the conspiracy that started the whole thing (season 2), it just got a little silly and I lost interest. Now that we’re heading into the fourth year of this, the show has long-outlived it’s basic premise and, coincidentally, it’s title. I’m far from caught up and I don’t plan on being. By all means, watch it for the eye candy (heck, maybe we’ll even see some more of that tattoo that’s spent most of the last two seasons covered up), but this is one of those shows that should have had a set story arc and then just let it all go. (Premiers 9/1)

90210 (Tuesdays, 8 pm, CW)

I grew up with the original Beverly Hills, 90210. I’m digging the fact that we’re going to get to see some old characters all grown up and a new batch of students at good ol’ West Beverly High. What I’m not digging is that the powers that be have decided to go the ultra-lame route of recycling the exact same basic plot idea of two new students–a brother and a sister (though obviously not twins)–from a non-hip and trendy middle-of-nowhere town who get thrown into the social web of the 90210-ers. But, the CW crew seems to know it’s target audience (which, admittedly, I’m not… having grown up on the original 90210 and all), and they’ve done a good job with other shows, so I’ll be tuning in and giving it a chance. (Premieres 9/2)

True Blood (Sundays, 9 pm, HBO)

This one looks interesting. It’s a vampire show, so it’s got some big shoes to fill but, well, I’m a sucker for vampires and I’ll give it a chance. The viral marketing/alternate reality game campaign they did was kind of neat. And it’s got Anna Paquin. Here’s hoping it’s worth the time. (Premieres 9/7)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Mondays, 8 pm, FOX)

The short first season of this show rocked my socks. Yes, there was some unevenness and yes, it did take some work to get used to the new Sarah Connor, but overall, I think the show has a lot of potential and I’m eager to see where it’s going to go. Especially with a new Terminator movie on the way. (Premieres 9/8)

Fringe (Tuesdays, 8 pm, FOX)

One half of the highly anticipated new “spooky” shows that Fox will be rolling out (Dollhouse being the other). Some are setting this one up for a fall by saying it’ll be “the next X-files!” From what I’ve seen so far (which isn’t much), it has potential to be good and most definitely interesting. It all really depends on how the cast gels and how the writing quality pans out. There has been many a show in the past (including the X-Files) that managed to stab itself in the eye because it’s writing was uneven. (Premieres 9/9)

Do Not Disturb (Wednesdays, 9:30 pm, FOX)

Oh, look, Jerry O’Connell in another sit come. Because, you know, his last one (the awful Carpoolers worked so well last year). I’ll watch it, but I’m not expecting much. Especially since it sounds a bit like yet another import and change of a classic Brit-com. (Premieres 9/10)

Hole in the Wall (Thursdays, 8 pm, FOX)

Go read the description. Then join me in the chorus of “Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?”

More of these later…

Less than a year after the original Stargate series made the jump to direct-to-video movies, Stargate: Atlantis seems to have gotten the ax.

It won’t be completely gone right away, though. Thanks to the odd way the Sci Fi Channel breaks up its seasons, the current (fifth) season will run through January some time. Then there’ll be a two hour movie some time later in 2009. There may be other movies after that.

According to a quote over at Multichannel News:

“We’re excited to tell Atlantis stories on a bigger canvas,” Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, co-creators of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis and currently executive producers on Atlantis, said in a statement. “The successes of the two original Stargate [direct-to-video] movies The Ark of Truth and Continuum have shown us the opportunities that the movie format offers. We have plans for both SG-1 and Atlantis to remain vital as we expand the franchise.”

I can’t exactly say I’m sad to see Atlantis go. I’ve always found it to be more than a little uneven as a show. There have been some really solid episodes, but there have been just as many that left me scratching my head wondering “How the heck did they no see how bad this was before they spent all that money making it?” Somehow, they managed to never get their characters quite as vibrant as SG1 did in the same time frame.

Which, I suppose, is one of the reasons SG1 lasted a decade and Atlantis only five years.

For those die-hard Stargate fans, though, there’s little reason to really despair. There’s already a new series that’s been pitched and it’s been promised to be bigger and better than either of its predecessors.

Stargate: Universe, while it has an unfortunately silly title, seems to be based on a good concept. According to the GateWorld website, the premise focuses on a project the Ancients (you know, the race that built the gates, fought the Wraith, created the Replicators, ascended into two warring camps and did all sorts of other questionably intelligent things) started and just kind of let run. That project? Seeding the entire universe with stargates using an automated ship. That ship’s been out there, bouncing along for thousands of years at this point. The second part of that project? A second ship following it to explore the areas around the new gates.

That could be interesting. Kind of a return to the Star Trek idea of “new worlds and new civilizations” being found using a starship. With the extra added bonus that, thanks to the gates, you could easily arrange cameos from favorite characters from the previous two series.

Of course, I’m not going to hold my breath on this show getting made, let alone made well. As a third generation derivative being run by the same people that ran the previous two incarnations of the franchise, it automatically has a lot of baggage to deal with. As we’ve learned with the Star Trek and Star Wars franchises the temptation to apply the same formulas to incompatible ideas is hard to resist. But I’ll wait to at least hear that the series has a green light before I fully rip into it.

In other SG news, it looks like the Stargate Worlds MMORPG is still on track. I can’t imagine it will do exceptionally well if there’s no series to tie into, though. I know I’d be willing to play it… if I had the time and money. And  maybe my own group of friends to put together into a solid SG team. (I’ve signed up to maybe get in on the beta of the game, just for fun.)

So, there you have it. We’ve gone from a little movie that got a big following to a series that started on a pay cable network, segued into syndication and then was picked up by a regular cable network and spawned a spin-off with a bigger scope to an online game and, possibly a third series with an even larger scope than its predecessors. Here’s hoping it doesn’t just leave a bad taste in a lot of fans mouths.