January Programs

January has been quite a month for new shows. And my hope has been restored concerning SciFi now that Caprica is up and running. It's a great show with a lot of potential. Here are just a few of the new shows:

- Caprica, SyFy, Fridays at 9pm ET/8pm CT
- The Deep End, ABC, Thursdays at 8pm ET/7pm CT
- The Inbetweeners, BBC America, Wednesdays at 9:30pm ET/8:30pm CT
- Life Unexpected, CW, Mondays at 9pm ET/ 8 pm CT
- Spartacus, Starz, Fridays at 10pm ET/9 pm CT

And Damages also returned in January for its third season. Yes, it has been a great TV month and staying on top of all these shows is not easy. However, I have already dropped The Deep End as too sophomoric to merit additional attention. Misbehaving lawyers? Nothing new here, folks. But the others have a lot of promise. Of course, The Inbetweeners is already in its third season over in the UK, so we are a bit behind the curve in this country (as is the case with Merlin and other shows). I am already surprised with the quality of acting as well as the decent storyline in Life Unexpected, and even Spartacus is full of heart (and blood, of course). While the acting and sets in Spartacus are not those of HBO's Rome, it has its own qualities (think 300) that may keep it around for awhile.

What Should We Remember?

This is a time of lists, and we all have our own set of special TV shows from the past. For my part, I want to highlight a few sci-fi shows that ended last year and will be missed. While there may be more, these are the ones that stuck with me. They include the following:

-- Battlestar Galactic (my earlier comments)
-- Kings (my earlier comments)
-- Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
-- Kyle XY (my earlier comments)
-- Defying Gravity (my earlier comments)

I have mixed feelings about each of these, but I would have liked to see more of each. I tend to agree that Battlestar Galactic ended at a good time, and with spin-off series as well as movies it is not really gone. However, Kings was prematurely killed, Terminator lasted only two seasons but restarted itself in the last episode (so there may be hope), Kyle XY fell off a cliff, and Defying Gravity was never really given a change (except in Canada). And I did not even include Virtuality, a show that never went past the pilot stages. Very odd.

I cannot say the new shows V or Dollhouse gets me excited, but at least we have Fringe to keep all of us sci-fi fans interested. Not much else of this genre that is still alive and worth watching. And yet I remain hopeful (and still somewhat saddened by the treatment of sci-fi in 2009). As always, stay tuned.

Bright Spots in the New Season

I have to say that some of the new shows this season are weak or started strong only to disappoint. I quickly dropped Eastwick due to bad writing (come on - the first episode has a woman talking about vomit on her face) and its attempt to mimic a much better movie. And if you only have half an hour for a family situation comedy, go with Modern Family, an interesting multi-generational comedy, rather than The Middle, which is too much like Malcolm in the Middle (and not only reuses characters such as the youngest son but also the name of the show).

However, the returning Fringe is a treat. The show, brought to you by J.J.Abrams, remains lively and interesting with just enough twists and laughs to keep you coming back. While it has its darker moments, it also has the best qualities that the X-Files also provided by tossing in subtle comedy at a particularly dangerous intersection of events. Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield had it right when he said

It's the most exciting drama around right now, too strange to fit into any stylistic box - too trippy for a cop show, too tough for sci-fi, with an unfailingly amazing cast and dialogue that dances from flippant bitchery to dazed-and-confused profundity. You don't have to follow the wide-scale conspiracy narrative to enjoy the individual episodes, but the deeper you dig into it, the more connections you find.

I wholeheartedly agree. It's more evidence that great TV is possible. I hope Fox knows what it has here.

What You Missed...

I am glad to read I am not the only person who will miss NBC's Kings. David Plotz in Slate magazine has a nice article titled The Death of Kings on why we will miss the program and why it is worth checking out the just released DVD. Here is a sampling of his story:

At times during its short run, Kings was essentially a high-concept soap opera. Yet it was always a soap opera with genuine intellectual ambition, and at its best, it was a provocative thought experiment: How would a religious monarchy work in a modern, pluralistic society? Could the values that Americans cherish survive in such a system? And would the actual presence of God solve or compound the problems of governing a nation? (When God gets angry at Silas, for example, Gilboa's windmill farms break down.)

I plan to pick up the DVD and rewatch the series. Maybe the interest in the DVD will wake up the studios and let them know that this brilliant show was something special that never really had a chance to win the hearts of America, but is worthy of another season. Stranger things have happened.

Catching Up on the New Season

Variety magazine reports that more than 43 new and returning shows will be broadcast between September 21 and 27. Thank the gods for the DVR, but is this really necessary? This is a bit like a buffet - you eat a bit of everything and basically remember nothing. And on top of all this, Ken Burn's finds it necessary to broadcast a 12-hour series on National Parks starting this Sunday and running each night thereafter. I am starting to get the impression that PBS really doesn't care if we find time to watch the program when it is broadcast. Just buy the DVD. P.S. PBS makes more money this way.

In addition to the DVR, we now have Fancast and Hulu. This allows you to catch up on what you missed and really put it all into context. For example, Hulu is currently showing this week's premiere of ABC's Flashforward (Thursdays 8pm ET/7pm CT), ABC's Modern Family (Wednesdays 9pm ET/8pm CT), the returning Fringe on Fox (Thursdays 9pm ET/8pm CT), and ABC's Eastwick (Wednesdays 10pm ET/9pm CT). Also, many of the network webpages offer free clips. So cheer up. You don't have to be glued to you couch all week. Instead, you can be glued to your computer for the next few weeks. Good luck.

Good News for Glee

The Hollywood Reporter noted the new Fox drama Glee has been picked up for the entire season. The article quotes Fox entertainment president (who, surprise, surprise, likes the show)

"The response we've received to 'Glee' has been remarkable," said Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly. "It's already got the makings of a cultural phenomenon. I've seen all 13 episodes, and Ryan Murphy, his team and the talented 'Glee' cast have knocked our socks off with their incredible work. We're happy to pick up this gem of a show, and can't wait to see what they'll do with the rest of the season."

I think I prefer the New York Times take on the pilot

The success of a high school comedy doesn’t lie in its originality, but in how cleverly it contorts the classic formula. “Glee,” a new series on Fox, is blissfully unoriginal in a witty, imaginative way.

I for one think this is good news. One could even say I am gleeful.

Not Bored to Death

You may watch to check out HBO's new series Bored to Death. Starring Jason Schwartzman and Ted Danson, its a fun take on an unemployed writer (Schwartzman) trying to find something new, such as playing the part of a private investigator. Danson plays a drugged-up playboy, whereas Zach Galifianakis (from "The Hangover") plays the goofy, artistic friend trying to maintain a relationship with his girlfriend even though he has a 13-year-olds view of the world. The first show worked, and there is no reason why it cannot be one of the better new shows this fall. Check out Fancast for online episodes.