Fall TV Part 3: Sept 27-Oct 3 – PACE YOURSELVES

Luckily, this week gives us a chance to catch our breath after last week, which was, quite frankly, a little bit bananas.  All the new stuff has to start in the SAME WEEK?  You can’t space it out a little?  Make it last?  Whatever, networks.  Band-Aid rippers, clearly.

There are only a few new shows this week, but before I get to them, let me give you the quick skinny on what I’m giving a second chance and what I’ve already booted from my schedule.

Gets a Take-Two:

Hawaii Five-0 — First episode almost killed me with its cheese. That final scene where the camera slo-mo’d Grace Park smiling and twirling in her cute li’l outfit?  Puke-aroo.  But it wasn’t terrible and I like the actors (though, Alex O’Loughlin is not terribly impressive thus far — smack them acting chops into shape, Alex, I’ve seen you do a lot better than this).  And, what’s more, I like the setting.  It’s sunny and warm there.  That’s not worth nothing when you’re heading towards winter in Seattle.

Detroit 1-8-7 — MAJOR issues with this one already, like, for example, the new homicide detective who pukes at his first dead body scene, despite the fact he’d clearly been a beat cop for years and surely had seen much worse than that.  Really?  Please to not believe your audience is so dumb thanks.  Also, what gives with the fairly solid beginning and, as a friend called it, the “Jerry Bruckheimer” ending?  Pick one, guys.  Preferably this week.

The Whole Truth — It’s not great, but it didn’t suck, either.  I watched the whole thing, unoriginal as it was.  I like Maura Tierney and her new hairdo, and while Rob Morrow seemed a little unsure of how much to play up the New York/New Jersey thing, he might settle in, mellow out.  It’s nice to see him be a bit of a goof for a change, at the very least.  But it’s going to need better storylines if it’s going to hold my attention.

Outlaw — SURPRISE!  I’ve seen the first two episodes of this one and I’m really enjoying it.  Jimmy Smits is doing a good job in his role as an ex-Supreme Court justice who has returned to the lawyer side of the bench.  And the Arizona cop vs. racially-profiled Hispanic case was timely without having the feeling of a “ripped from the headlines because we’re out of our own ideas already!” thing.  I also thought the writing was pretty sharp — good banter.   So far, best new legal show of the year, in my opinion — though admittedly, that is not saying much.

Dumped:

Blue Bloods — I watched the whole episode, and a mere three days later, I couldn’t tell you a damn thing about it.  Not a good sign.
Lone Star — Still waiting on my DVR, which is also not a good sign.  Can’t muster requisite enthusiasm for this one’s story.
The Event — Did not go there.
Chase — Bored in under 8 minutes.
The Defenders — Also bored in under 8 minutes, though I hear it got better after that so I might try again.

And now, coming up this week:

Tuesday, September 28

Returning:
The Good Wife – CBS, 9pm
Stargate Universe – SyFy, 9pm

New:
No Ordinary Family – ABC – 8pm — You know I love Michael Chiklis.  The problem is, I’m burned out on superheroes after the whole Heroes debacle.  What a disappointment.  If it ends up being the hit show of the year, though, I’ll be in for a DVD catch-up this summer.

Wednesday, September 29

New:
Law & Order: Los Angeles – NBC – 10pm — I was going to be all, “No way in hell” when it came to this one.  We need another Law & Order?  No.  No, sir, I’m pretty sure we don’t, in fact.   But then I ran into three problems:  Skeet Ulrich, Alfred Molina, and Terrence Howard.  Well, hell, NBC, if you’re gonna go all Terrence HOWARD on me . . . Damn.

Friday, October 1

Returning: Human Target – Fox – 8pm

Sunday, October 3

Returning:
American Dad – Fox – 9:30pm
CSI:Miami – CBS, 10pm

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Fall TV Boyfriend Alert!

McMagnumy

It’ll be a few more weeks before I get serious about Fall TV, but since I skipped summer TV altogether (current favorite, by the way, is Louie on FX), I thought I’d at least send out a teaser about some exciting coming attractions.  Namely, a whole heap of new shows slated to start in a month or two that feature ex-Boyfriends of the Week!

Head’s up, people!  There’s some serious cute coming your way this fall!  Detailed descriptions of all these shows coming soon when I dive into the Fall TV swimming pool for reals.

McVampirey

Monday nights, for example, will be bringing us Lone Star, starring ex-Older-Boyfriend David Keith, as well as the Hawaii 5-0 remake featuring Alex O’Loughlin.

Tuesdays will have No Ordinary Family with Michael Chiklis, though I will confess I saw an ad for this show recently and it looks like an ABC Family version of Heroes — meh, will likely skip this one.  Thinking ’bout it.

McBrowdery

Wednesdays include The Defenders with Jerry O’Connell, who I hope has eaten a few cheeseburgers since I last saw him without his shirt off on Crossing Jordan (yeesh, Skeletor!).  And I absolutely cannot WAIT for Hellcats as it will star the delightful Ben Browder (dang — see comments for correction of this). Then we’ll have Undercover (the new J.J. Abrams series) with Gerald McRaney (ooh rah!), or (good lord), yet ANOTHER Law & Order, this time in LA, featuring Skeet Ulrich (yippie!).  All in all, Wednesdays look pretty delicious.

Nada much on Thursdays in the way of ex-Boyfriends, but Friday’s got three old beaus:  Blue Bloods with Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg, and Outlaw with Jimmy Smits.

McCrinkly

Also, just in case you were wondering who’d try to snag him next, James Tupper of the crazy-gorgeous eye crinkles, will be doing a few-episode arc on Grey’s Anatomy.  Here’s hoping McCrinkly gets a season pass — he’s had some practice now with the medical jargon, after all.

Are you ready?  Man, I am SO READY.

Reruns of Jericho Season One start tonight on CBS

Tonight’s the night, y’all!  Reruns of season one of Jericho begin starting tonight and running every Friday through the summer on CBS.  This show, starring ex-Boyfriends Skeet Ulrich and Gerald McRaney, was canceled at the end of last season, but after a successful peanut-sending campaign on the part of its fans, CBS has agreed to make a handful of episodes for next year for a trial second season.  Go CBS and Jericho fans!

If you missed the series the first time around, now’s your chance to get caught up in preparation for it’s short season next winter.  You can also watch the full season for free on the CBS web site:  http://jerichorises.com.  I myself only watched about the first three or four eps, thinking I’d just save the rest for DVD, so I’m particularly psyched to get to watch it for free this summer instead of having to wait until September for the disks to come out.  Yay.

Please note that after I mentioned the Save Jericho campaign in the So You Think You Can Dance write-up last month, I got a few emails from some fans who warned me that the first few episodes of the series started off kind of shaky and that if I didn’t fall immediately in love with it, I should stick it out until at least episode five.  So, let’s all try to hang in there, even after the scene in which Skeet uses a juice box straw to do an emergency tracheotomy on a kid, okay?  We’ll make a pact right now.  We’re in for at least five, right?  Deal.

Tune in tonight for episode one, 9pm on CBS.  Be there, or run the risk of having 300 tons of peanuts delivered to your front door in protest.

UPDATE: Some bad news — looks like CBS will actually be airing episode one tonight, but then next week will show a recap episode that explains events from the first 11 episodes and then jump right into episode 12.  So, the only option for seeing episodes 2-11 will be via the Internet on the CBS web site, or to wait until September for DVD.  Now I’m torn again about waiting for the DVDs, because watching 10 hours of tv on my computer by next Friday doesn’t really appeal to me too much.  Drat.  Methinks I needs to rethinks.

Oh, and p.s. the new season of Doctor Who starts tonight on Sci-Fi, and I heard FOX will be showing the last two episodes of the canceled Drive with Nathan Fillion next week as well.