Tuesday, September 29, 2009

New Fall TV show recommendations

You would probably be disgusted at the number of TV shows I have on season pass in my DVR. I wouldn't be lying if I said it was close to 40. In my defense there are quite a few shows that have 1/2 seasons (Stargate (yes, I am a dork), Psych, etc.) Quite a few shows also don't start until after the first of the year (Lost, 24, American Idol). So really I'm closer to 20 or so shows that are on my DVR for the Fall. Surprisingly, most of those shows are not new. DH has laid claim to the TV for basically the entire month of October. Why? Well, let's just say that the Yankees swept the Sox (booo!) and picked up the division title. My favorite was when a sports reporter said, "It's the first time since 2006. It's been a long time coming." Um, long time coming? Why don't you check in with the Cubs on that first?

Baseball bitterness aside, I have leveraged Hulu as my go to place to check out new shows. It gave me a chance to sample, make a decision and move on. Here are the shows I watched and my opinions:

The good:
Flash forward. Yes, I am a sucker for all things Lost-like. I wasn't planning on watching this show. I was going to ignore it and hope that that didn't come back and bite me in the ass. But when I was on Hulu it was the first show that popped up and it just begged me "Watch Now." So I did. And I really, really liked it. I also like what I've read about the show which includes getting to the flash forward point by the end of the season. No mysterious hatches that can't be opened here! Plus I've heard that the writers have already mapped out story arcs for 5 seasons. I'm hopeful that means a lot of thought went into it and it will be consistently good, story-wise. Great actors too.

The Good Wife. I am as shocked as you. This show will probably end up as a case of the week type show but frankly that's been missing since Boston Legal and Eli Stone (curses!) went off the air. I heart Julianna Margulies and Chris Noth. And if you look at Tuesday's line up, there isn't much that conflicts. Score! The worst decision for CBS? That they didn't let Hulu host the download. I had to watch it through CBS and the picture never synched up with the audio.

The OK:
Community. I think Joel McHale is a hoot on the Soup and he is appropriately smarmy on this sitcom. But something isn't quite clicking for me. Given the huge number of conflicts I have on Thursday nights I'm passing on this one. Damn Fox for putting Fringe in the Thursday slot!

The awful.
The Forgotten. Oh, Christian Slater. Can't you and your agent find good shows for you to be on? Let me save you all some trouble and tell you this show is DOA. I give it 3 episodes, max.

Mercy. Another show about nurses? Thanks NBC! Just what we needed. Too bad most of the people on it can't act their way out of paper bags. I give it 1/2 a season, tops.

Shows I haven't checked out and am not sure I will:
Three Rivers. As an alumnus of Carnegie Mellon I am happy to see a show featuring Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh always gets a bad rap and it's really a nice city. Seriously, it is! But another hospital drama? Meh.

Trauma. What is it about nurses, paramedics and doctor's this season? Does this mean next year it will be all lawyer shows? Or is the cops turn? I guess Law & Order has that sewn up.

If you are interested in the other shows I watch (except for those who have been cancelled. Fair well Pushing Daisies, Boston Legal, and Dirty, Sexy, Money), you can read it here, here and here. So my fellow TV addicts, what am I missing for new shows? Or even existing ones? And don't tell me the Amazing Race. That show gives me a heart attack every time I watch it.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

The only new show I watched was "Cougartown". . .takes place in Sarasota. Didn't really know about cougars, but something new learned every day. Frankly, I was shocked at the explicit sex, but liked Courtney. . . .Mimi

Jordan said...

I'm only on board with Community and FlashForward here. I thought Community was the better of the two to be honest. Something seems a little off about FlashForward and I feel they are trying to be too much like lost. J. Fiennes in a TV role is intriguing though.

I agree that Thursday night TV is a bitch.

LauraC said...

I felt the same about FlashForward! Loved it! Jon and I talked for an hour afterwards pointing out all the scientific inconsistencies of the show... which is actually a good thing in our house. Then it led Jon to make some quantum theory argument and the terms Schrodinger's cat and Heisenberg uncertainty principle came up... at that point Jon said I was not allowed to mention it on my blog.

Mommy, Esq. said...

Julianna Margulies' hair is awesome in the Good Wife - and the pilot was really good. Melrose Place is a new one on my DVR too.

A. said...

Did you check out Modern Family? I am not an "LOL"er, but did so many times while watching. Hilarious. Here's hoping it keeps up the humor. We also tuned in to Eastwick. Not sure I'll keep watching, but I'll give it another episode or two before I decide.

confused homemaker said...

The difficulty between Fringe & Community caused problems for us too. Thankfully we can DVR one & watch the other. Fringe had a slow start this season, catching up.

Natalie said...

my new favorite show is Modern Family on ABC, friggin' hysterical. In the pilot the final 4 minutes made me laugh so hard I called Helen and made her watch while I listened. It's a must record new show!!!

barbashlack2 said...

Ugh....you're missing only the best shows on TV: Gossip Girl, Project Runway, Top Chef.....Vampire Diaries.....
90210 has been better this season (I love Naomi), but the new Melrose Place kinda sucks.
(I am a DVR-junkie.) I also still watch One Tree Hill - but I have no idea why.

H said...

No, Amazing Race...ok, ok.

I did like Flashforward- could be our new Lost when that is over, but was I the only who was totally freaked out by it. I don't want to give anything away, but when we see the one blurred figure moving at the Detroit stadium- the hair stood up on the back of my neck!
When discussing with my school friends it as decided that it creeped me out more because "it" was happening everywhere around the world, and not just on an isolated island in the South Pacific.
Taped The Good Wife- haven't watched yet
Modern Family- which is on opposite Glee- was as hysterical as Natalie said
Wait- did you mention Glee? You MUST watch Glee!
Other than that- I'm basically watching all the same teenage shows as Tara:)