Ok, post the new (or returning) shows you saw and what you think of them. Chuck - Any show that promotes the fantasy that computer nerds are sexy and charismatic is aces in my book. I just wonder if the machina en computatrum deus plot device will get tiresome quickly. Great to see Adam Baldwin. I'll keep watching for now. Journeyman - Quantum Leapish but with more drama. But I wonder why a force powerful enough to send a person back and forth through time couldn't make the changes itself much more easily or at least tell the guy what he is supposed to do. I'm a fan of Reed Diamond. I'll watch if I remember. Kid Nation - Once the contrived stuff kicked in, I got bored. I won't watch it again. Kitchen Nightmares - As someone who almost never eats out, I found the rat turd and rotten food thoroughly entertaining. I'm watching. K-Ville - Seems like they really got the local flavor and light right. Very active and pretty original in how they strip transitions out of the action scenes. But I think there's more shootouts in one episode than what a real cop would see in a year. I'll keep watching.
Unless a show is really terrible, I usually give it a few episodes to see the clunker-to-goodness ratio. Chuck - still in, but it's not one of my top new shows. K-Ville - great potential. First ep was weak, but I thought episode two was much, much better. It's earned at least another month before it'll be a candidate for deletion. (Originally decided to watch this because of it's setting, and Cole Hauser.) Big Bang Theory - first episode was a clunker. If the 2nd isn't any better, then it goes on my trashheap. Cuoco's boobs are about the only thing keeping me around right now. Journeyman - two thumbs up from me. His ex's doppleganger was the moment that piqued my interest. Reaper - fun little show on a network (CW) I normally ignore. First episode (directed by Kevin Smith) shows lots of promise. Bionic Woman - haven't watched it yet. Life - I originally picked this up because of Damian Lewis. The quirkyness of the main character was a bit of an issue for me, but I think I 'got it' by the end of the show. Will keep watching for now. Moonlight - airs tonight.
Only caught a couple so far... Private Practice - Had high hopes for this based on the preview episode from last season. Good stuff. Has plenty of potential due to the mix of characters. If it doesn't become a new "Grey's," then it will work well. Love, Sexy, Money - Was not interested in this, but came on after PP. Was interesting. Has a good cast of characters and actors, but the writing seems a bit weak. Was unimpressed with the hook that kept the main character going. Will have to wait until next week to see if I watch it and if it is worth it.
Moonlight - I have rarely seen a show this bad. I mean, it's Manimal bad. It started with probably the worst opening 5 minutes in TV drama history, and then piled on bad acting, horrible voice-over, a poorly thought out universe, and gothic melodrama of the cheapest kind. I feel bad for supporting actor Jason Dohring, late of Veronica Mars and the only bright part of the show outside some decent wire-fu. I would only watch it again if someone offered me sex or money. Lots of money. Any kind of sex, but lots of money.
Watched it. Liked it. We'll see where it goes. Hmmm. Good wire-fu, as spejic noted, but that appeared to be the best part. Kevin Wiseman was in it, which was a surprise. But it's got a terrible title, pretty rough concept (vampire PI?)... I'll keep recording it (lots of space, no conflicts on Friday nights), and if I have time I might watch ep 2 to see if I can get a better feel for the long-term prospects of this show. It's not looking very good, IMO.
The Unit - Last season's premiere had a good plot but was admittedly a bit slow in the action department. This year's season premiere (Part 2 of a three-part story arc), by contrast, had a good, suspenseful plot and kicked some major ass!
For the first time since I got a DVR almost 21 months ago I have found myself in with a major conflict. On Mondays I have three shows I want to watch and/or record and only two tuners (Prison Break, How I Met Your Mother, and Chuck). The positives are the existence of torrents and reruns on the weekend (hopefully they keep airing some of these). Life isn't fair!
CBS will air re-runs of the whole season of HIMYM after the season ends in the spring. I'm sure NBC will be re-airing Chuck via Sci-Fi network, on NBC or via OnDemand because they are really trying to get people to watch. FOX rarely shows repeats of Prison Break so that is one you have to watch/record. I thought this was going to be a tough choice as well but I did not like the premiere of Chuck at all so I'm no longer worrying about it.
The first one made me want to catch a few more, but it's got a ways to go to move up the priority list on the DVR.
It looks like Chuck will not be running in repeats on Sci-Fi after the pilot episode was shown last weekeng. It looks like Sci-Fi is only getting one NBC show this season, and they have picked Bionic Woman.
Excellent since I can't catch that show as I am recording two shows during that particular time period.
Checked my DVR today and NBC is indeed showing repeats of Chuck each week. It looks like it's going to be on NBC and Bravo.
I caught a rebroadcast of Life on the USA channel late on Sunday night. It is quirky but I liked it so I'll be looking for it. K
I watched most of Journeyman last night and was very confused. Did I miss the explanation of what's going on in the first ep? Is this some sort of Butterfly Effect type concept?
They explained nothing in the first episode. The only thing you might be missing is that the wife of the Journeyman's brother (the cop) supposedly died in a plane crash a few years ago, but it seems she is actually alive and also a time traveler. I think the basic idea is that he follows one thread of events that leads to a hero of the current world being a hero of the current world and making sure that events transpire so that the hero exists. So far I don't care at all for the premise and the related plot. But I'm still a fan of the show. First, the supporting cast (the wife and brother) are great. Second, they do the historical recreations with great care and an eye for detail. And third, the show just loves San Francisco and so do I.
Pushing Daisies aired here in Canada yesterday. It reminded me of Amelie. It looks really nice and there's some funny parts to the show, especially near the end.
1. I think your way wrong on your first point. The person who died in the plane crash (allegedly) was Journeyman's ex-fiance. Journeyman's current wife is the ex-girlfriend (maybe fiance) of Journeyman's brother (the cop). While Journeyman (in this case we shall call him Vorenus) thought his ex-fiance died, it appears likely that she did not die as no body was found in the plane crash and she appears to be a time traveller as well (in this case, I think she is actually tracking his "jumps" so that she can guide him ....like he is doing when he jumps into various portions of the same persons life).
Actually, it's going to run on NBC again Saturday night (in HD). Good thing, too, since my file server got stuffed up 7 minutes past 9PM tonight and fracked up the recording. Journeyman might be my favorite new show so far.
I saw the pre-premier of the show in spring because the girlfriend watches Grey's, and it was horrible. Though perhaps that was because they kept cutting in and out of the Grey's season finale. I didn't catch the new episodes, but the girlfriend reports it's okay, but she is a Grey's fan so take that however you will. I'm just amazed how much fairly recognizable B-list talent they were able to amass. As for shows I have watched: Cavemen - I have to admit, I like the Geico commercials, and I wanted to like this. But as my friend describes it, you take awway the caveman makeup, you're left with one-dimensional stock characters we've seen thousand times over, with jokes about interracial dating rewritten with racial identifiers removed. This could've been a lot better, but the characters are just flat. It is nice to see Nick Kroll pick up a network paycheck though. Carpoolers - The other single-camera, laugh track-free sitcom on ABC. I liked this a lot better when it was an SNL skit. And anything with Jerry O'Connell is an automatic 10-point deduction. I'll give both shows another try, but it looks like I'll be watching the same shows as last season.
So far with the network hour longs there have been no absolute standouts. I have to say that Life, Journeyman, Reaper, Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money have potential to be good but they could all easily get canned without some support.
Best new show of the year IMHO is Burn Notice.... Though Life, Journeyman and Reaper have me intrigued. Haven't watched Tripping Daiseys yet.
Big Bang Theory - I was just watching a recording this show, and I thought it was hilarious. I can't see it avoiding cancelation, as it is clearly written for the ultimate hard core nerds. It has jokes like: Oh, man, that one had me choking for breath with laughter.
Yea, there is no way this show survives past a single season. The writing, from the perspective of the full show isn't exactly spectacular, but there are some jokes that have had me absolutely rolling.