Fall Season 09 Line-Up

A friend asked me the other day what I was watching this Fall. I had not yet mapped out my viewing schedule. Actually, I have stopped watching on a schedule much since I now have FiOS with its excellent on demand services. I decided I should figure out my schedule so as not to miss my favs and the exciting new shows coming. Here is my Fall 2009 Line-Up:

Monday

8:00 – How I Met Your Mother (CBS Sept. 21), House (Fox Sept. 21), One Tree Hill (CW Sept. 14)

8:30 – Accidentally on Purpose (CBS Sept. 21)*

9:00 – Trauma (NBC Sept 28)*, Lie To Me (Fox Sept. 28), Greek (ABC Family Aug. 31), Gossip Girl (CW Sept. 14)

10:00 – Castle (ABC Sept. 21)

Tuesday

8:00 – 90210 (CW Sept. 8)

9:00 – So You Think You Can Dance (Fox Sept. 9), Melrose (CW Sept. 8)*

10:00 – The Forgotten (ABC Sept. 22)*, The Good Wife (CBS Sept. 22)*

Wednesday

8:00 – So You Think You Can Dance (Fox Sept. 9), Mercy (CBS Sept. 23)*

8:30 – Cougartown (ABC Sept. 23)*

9:00 – Glee (Fox Sept. 9)*, The Modern Family (ABC Sept. 23)*, Top Chef Las Vegas (Bravo Aug. 19), The Beautiful Life (CW Sept. 16)

10:00 – Eastwick (ABC Sept. 23)*

Thursday

8:00 –Flash Forward (ABC Sept. 24)*, Survivor (CBS Sept. 17), Bones (Fox Sept. 17), The Vampire Diaries (CW Sept. 10)*

9:00 – Grey’s Anatomy (ABC Sept. 24), Fringe (Fox Sept. 17)

9:30 – Community (NBC Sept. 17- Oct. 1)*

10:00 – Private Practice (ABC Oct. 1), The Mentalist (CBS Sept. 24), Project Runway (Lifetime Aug. 20)

Friday

9:00 – Ugly Betty (ABC Oct. 9)

10:00 – Psych (USA Aug. 7)

Saturday

CATCH UP!!!!

Sunday

8:00 – The Amazing Race (CBS Sept. 27)

9:00 – Desperate Housewives (ABC Sept. 27), Three Rivers (CBS Oct. 4)*

10:00 – Brothers & Sisters (ABC Sept. 27), Mad Men (AMC Aug. 16), Cold Case (CBS Sept. 27)

I think in total it is 37 hours of watching if it all makes the cut. I am trying out 14 new shows (marked with *). A breakdown by network leaves ABC Clearly in the lead:

ABC - 11, ABC Family - 1, AMC - 1, Bravo - 1, CBS - 9, CW - 6, Lifetime - 1, NBC - 1, USA - 1

I am most excited about the new show "Glee". The premiere was even better than I had hoped. I am a trained singer and was thrilled that the singers were legit and the arrangements were fantastic. Jane Lynch has always been a comedy genius, and I am so glad that her talents are used to enhance this show rather than try to salvage it. If you haven't seen it yet what are you waiting for?!?!?! Check it out at Fancast. The returning show I am most excited for is very surprising to me. Based on one of the best season finale cliffhangers I have ever seen, Private Practice takes the honor this year.

What are you most excited about?

New Shows- Part 1

I have been trying to get in as many pilot episodes as possible, at least those that actually peak my interest. Here are my initial thoughts:

Back to You- An aging group of actors in a totally not funny show. Jerk anchor returns to a small network news show to join a crew of people who didn't like him all that much to begin with. Then the big twist at the end, which doesn't end up being a comedy situation at all... actually turns this sitcom into a dramedy which is exactly what is not needed in a 30-minute slot. This is obviously supposed to appeal to an age demographic that I do not fit in. I wasn't expecting much and the show delivered even less.

Big Bang Theory- I wasn't even going to try this one out, but then I heard the theme song by Barenaked Ladies and decided it deserved at least one shot. One shot is all it will be getting. I am not sure what demographic this is supposed to appeal to since it seems that the "intellectual" jokes that they made mostly target an audience that would spend more time online gaming or solving theories than watching a sitcom. The only two females on the show were presented as rude and dumb yet hot, not how I want to encourage the networks to portray my gender by giving them my viewership.

Bionic Woman- For the stunts and premise alone, I am glad I watched the pilot episode of Bionic Woman. As for the acting, just because parts of you are computerized doesn't mean the acting needs to be. Michelle Ryan was so/so as the new bionic woman. Katee Sackhoff's acting, as the previous bionic woman, was a catastrophe. Overlooking the acting, I will give this one a shot . It is reminiscent of the best of Alias, which is definitely worth a try.

Cane- After watching the promos I really wasn't interested in this show. I decided to give Jimmy Smits a shot since he has a proven track record of fantastic shows. The show was overall better than the promo led me to believe. I am still not sure it is a keeper, but willing to hang in for a few episodes to see if it hooks.

Chuck- The complete opposite of Journeyman in the fact that I immediately felt connected to the characters on this show. Great writing, well cast, a good mix of action and story. This is a must-see show. Thoroughly entertaining.

Dirty Sexy Money- Loved the premiere. I am amazed at the cast that was assembled for this show. Without this stellar cast though, the show would not hold its weight. Peter Krause on network tv again was enough cause for me to watch. This is definitely staying on by DVR schedule.

Gossip Girl- I was entertained by this show from beginning to end. I admit I get sucked into a good high school drama and that is what this is. I enjoy the continued narration throughout the show and am interested to see if that was more prevalent for the pilot than it will be for future episodes. With the loss of The OC and One Tree Hill on extended leave there is a empty niche that Gossip Girl will easily fill.

Journeyman- I really wanted to like this show. I sat through the hour hoping it would get better, and it sort of redeemed itself at the end, but not enough for this to become a top 10 or maybe even top 20 for me. The biggest problem was that I didn't particularly like ANY of the characters. I felt no attachment, sympathy, connection to anyone so I could care less whether the main character disappears for days, except that I have to watch more encounters with characters I have no investment in. I doubt this will end up on my watch list.

K-ville- I was going to watch this show. I set the DVR, it recorded, I scanned through it for about 10 seconds and realized I had ZERO interest in watching the show. It is cut.

Private Practice- While much improved from the intro. given through Grey's Anatomy last season, I am still sorely disappointed in Kate Walsh's performance. I have no interest in seeing her dance naked around her room. It was set up so poorly that I wanted her to get caught in an embarrassing situation so she could act her way out of it and she couldn't. Without the rest of the stellar cast holding up the show, I wouldn't be watching. Here's to hoping Shonda realizes the rest of the cast far excels Kate and focuses more stories on them.

The Reaper- This show is a paradox, both in premise and in whether I actually want to watch it again. Sam learns on his 21st birthday that his parents sold his soul to the devil before he was conceived. He decides to work for the devil as a spiritual bounty hunter collecting souls that have escaped from hell. This is seen as being for the greater good since these escaped souls take on their previous bad habits such as burning down firehouses. I wasn't quite sure if I enjoyed it. The characters were at times likable, but then would have some strange quirk that made you question why you thought you might like them in the first place. I am holding judgment (hee hee) for a few more episodes.

Private Practice (Please Please Please Change the Name)

Yes, the title today is my appeal to ABC to show some class, restraint, wisdom, fill in your own appropriate descriptor here, to Please change the title for the Grey's 2.0 from Private Practice to just about anything that isn't going to make me squirm each time I hear it. So, let's hear 'em, your ideas for the Grey's spin-off title. Maybe something based off the name of the clinic "Oceanside Wellness Group".

Why the appeal after I already slammed the first glimpse of the show? Because ABC gave the show the greenlight, as you might remember I did predict in that post. Next question, do I think it will make it? If Brothers and Sisters is any sort of example for what ABC can get their writers to do when the first few shows don't flow as well as they should, then absolutely. I watched Brothers and Sisters from the first show it aired. I was sooooooo disappointed with that cast and an interesting premise that the show wasn't better. They went on a short hiatus, came back revamped, and my husband said isn't that the show you said wasn't very good. Yup, but it got better. ABC did its job, gave the writers and cast a chance to pull together what should have been great from the beginning, and it has completely paid off for them. Can they do it again with (cringe) Private Practice? I for one hope so.

I have been very impressed with what Shonda Rhimes has done with Grey's. There are race and weight barriers that she is breaking down with this show and while it may not seem to be enlightening in anyway she is sneaking those ideas in just through the casting. To give this idea some merit compare ER which was a "groundbreaking medical drama" when it first came out. Dr. Benton (a resident at the time) was the only doctor of color and there were only two female doctors. There are now more female and African American doctors, but the only Hispanic doctor to ever be on the show was a completely out-of-control drug-addict adulterer. Grey's has a diverse cast that has minorities in many of the key power areas: Chief of Staff, Cardiotheracic Surgery, as residents leading the interns. In the running for chief resident - three women, one Caucasian, one African American, and one Hispanic, two are what defined by tv standards would be considered overweight. It almost sounds like a set-up for a bad joke, but instead it is the making of a great show. Shonda Rhimes said she wanted to cast to portray America, well one can argue that the actual cast make-up looks nothing like the proportions actually living in America or who have degrees in medicine, but it does look like the America I see when I walk through the mall and I give her props for that.

So, Shonda as you revamp, keep the talking elevator if you want, definitely keep some of the eye-candy, but PLEASE, PLEASE bring up some substance (you can sneak it in if you feel you have to) and almost as importantly please find a new name... yes, this is begging, I am on my knees.

Ok everyone, let's give her some ideas on that new name, my first is Oceanside Wellness.