Fall 2010 television (new shows)

This is mostly for Taylor, who has been asking for it, but also for anyone else who reads this thing and for whatever reason cares about my opinion.

The Fall 2010/Spring 2011 television season is going to be interesting for me because two of my favorite shows, 24 and Lost, are now gone. Granted they both aired in the Spring, but I feel a void has been left in my viewing habits, in terms of the serialized mystery and the action genres. The Fall season always offers a whole host of new shows, 3 or 4 of which I watch all the way through and another few I start off watching and eventually stop. I am not going to go through every new show, but go with the 6 or 7 I am definitely checking for and a few others I am going to at least give a shot.

The 5 I will definitely be watching:

6/7. Walking Dead/Boardwalk Empire- These shows are not on your regular channels, so I am going to lump them together. Walking Dead does not premiere until November anyway. Walking Dead is about, well, zombies. I am not sure how that will play every week, but it is created by Frank Darabont and the pedigree is insane. Boardwalk Empire is another show with a great pedigree, produced by Scorcese and the pilot was directed by him as well. I will have to download these shows to keep up, but they are both interesting to me.

5. Nikita- I think this show is going to fill the 24 void in terms of action. Maggie Q is sexy as hell and The few television critics I like say the pilot is great and should work. The fact that it is on the CW should worry me, but my favorite current show, Supernatual is on that channel. I know the CW believes strongly in the show and the action from the trailers make it look pretty awesome.

4. No ordinary Family- The Incredibles/Fantastic Four hybrid show, that looks like it has the sense of humor Heroes generally lacked. The cast is really strong, even if it might take a few episodes to see them in new roles. Chiklis as a good family man and not as a cop who killed people, is going to be tough. I am pretty excited for more superpower stuff on television, and the effects look pretty good. I guess the show could go either way, but I am optimistic for it.

3. Lone Star- I need a low down dirty soap in my life and this one fits the bill. Actually it seems this is the show people/critics are most intrigued by. The story looks interesting, steamy and sexy and Jon Voight was great in 24, so I am sure he will be great in this Dallas-esque show. I am not entirely sure what is going on, but I think the mystery is part of the hook. I am kind of following the lead of the critics on this one.

2. Undercover- J.J Abrams produced/created television will always be high on my to-watch list. This sexy spy show is not different. It looks a bit like Alias, which is not inherently a bad thing. I like spy shows, and I like watching sexy people do sexy spy things. Much has been made of the African American leads, but it will not matter if the show is not good. Abrams knows how to create tension and put people in awesome circumstances and the two leads are sexy as hell. The tension will carry this show for sure.

1. The Event- I do get sucked into these types of shows and they can reward me like Lost, or frustrate me by getting cancelled like FlashForward, or they can just burn out like Heroes.I am always willing to take the chance that one will capture me the way Lost did. A kidnapping, a hit on the President and other crimes are not the event but they lead up to the event. We do not know what the event is, but I want to know just based on what little I have seen. This show has the biggest potential to fail miserably, but I kind of like that as well. I like the risk factor, even if I can get my heart ripped out.

Some other potential shows:

Hawaii 5-0- I would not think this is a show I will like, but Scott Caan and Daniel Dae Kim being involved interests me a lot more. I am sure it is going to be a more raw show than the original and that could be cool, but as far a cop shows go, it is going to be hard for something to be more interesting than The Wire or The Shield. Still, I think I will check it out.

Running Wilde/Mike and Molly- A year after Modern Family and Cougar town made me think interesting sitcoms were making a comeback, nothing in that genre really does much for me. These two I am going to check out based mostly on the cast. Running Wilde has Keri Russell and Will Arnett, both of whom have great television credentials and Mike and Molly has Sookie from Gilmore Girls and is about fat people, of which I am one. Because they are only 22 minute long, they might work for me.

Detroit 1-8-7- I think this kind of looks like NYPD Blue, but in Detroit, which means it could be even more raw and gritty. I loved NYPD Blue, so I am going to give this show a few weeks to grow on me. It might end up being too procedural for my tastes, but it could end up being a really interesting cop show.

Guilty Pleasure television:

Hellcats: It is a show about sexy cheerleaders on The CW. I should not have to say much more. I am sure the show is awful, trashy and probably going to get cancelled after 1 season, but I am excited for the catfights, cheerleader skirts and sexy time!!