Fall Lineup 2007

It's that time of the year again where we analyze, chop up and spit out the new fall lineup of shows. I've actually been able to watch more than normal since most of the time I find myself holding Nathan on the couch watching TV. It actually keeps him pretty calm which is a nice relief. After watching some of them I have discovered that this is the year of the geek/nerd. Two of my favorite new shows revolve around the nerdy guy who can't seem to close the deal with the hot girl. There are also a few returning shows that I have been looking forward to that are starting in the next few weeks.

Monday

Chuck is what happens when you take a show like The Office and throw it smack dab into the spy thriller show Alias. Chuck Bartowski is a typical smart guy who was expelled from Stanford and finds himself making ends meet as a Nerd Herder at a Best Buy like chain. Chuck gets an e-mail from an old roomate--the same roomate that had him booted from school. This e-mail contains all of the Intelligence information from the three spy agencies of the U.S. The NSA, the CIA and the FBI. His old roomate turns out to be a rogue CIA spy and poor Chuck's brain gets downloaded with all of this information. Needless to say he ends up smack in the middle of the spy game with a hot as hell CIA agent named Sarah and a hard as nails NSA officer determined to get the info out of Chuck's skull one way or another. So far this has been a really fun show, it doesn't take itself too seriously and did I mention the CIA chick was hot? Zachary Levi is great as Chuck he's funny and he carries the show. Yvonne Strahovski is the bad ass, Sydney Bristow lite, Sarah, she's pretty good given that I have never heard of her or seen her in anything previously. I also really like Joshua Gomez who plays Chuck's goofy best friend Morgan, he's funny and blends in great with this cast. It's also great to see Adam Baldwin picking up a little work after his departure from one of my other favorite shows, Firefly. Baldwin plays the hard nosed John Casey of the NSA. If you haven't seen Chuck you should go to your computer and watch the first few episodes on line.






Chuck aires Monday nights at 8PM on NBC


Heroes It is now in it's second season and so far it's started off kind of blah. I've always had a love hate thing with Heroes. I like that they are trying to focus more on the characters and less on the "Save the World" mantra that got very stale from last year. I also really like that they upgraded mind reader cop Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg) to a much more pivotal role. Although it's starting to look very predictable. I can totaly tell where they are going with this storyline as they knock off the older heroes, but I will wait to pass judgement until at least sweeps. They also seem to be playing with some politics here as they recognize Hurricane stricken New Orleans as Micah goes to visit granny Uhura in the delta. One of my least favorite part of the new heroes are the Wonder Twin Mexicans with their lame powers. So far they are desperate to get across the border, find a way to the Big Apple, so they can receive help from Doctor Suresh. Again I hope they make it there soon cause so far their journey has been boring and annoying.


Heroes aires Monday nights at 9PM on NBC


Journeyman This is sort of a sci/fi drama that meshes pieces of the book The Time Traveller's Wife and one of my favorite shows from the early 90's, Quantum Leap. We follow reporter Dan Vasser as he leaps back and forth through time without any warning except for a headache that pains him right before he jumps. He is married and has a young son and his leaping adds to the strain in his home life. His jumps appear so randomly that the poor guy can't even drive his car, cause as soon as he disappears his car becomes a hazard on the road. Not to mention that when he leaps he finds himself face to face with a supposed to be dead ex-lover who seems to have the same leaping ability that he has. Kevin McKidd is great as Dan, you can feel his frustration as he tries to deal with his predicament as he leaps back and forth trying to make everything right in the past and the present. Tamar and I also really enjoy the little touches as well. He so far has jumped back as far as the late 70's but everytime he does it is accompanied by the hit song of that year and it's kind of fun figuring out which period he has leaped into. There are some structural problems with it that hopefully will be ironed out. Mostly that his family and boss seem very understanding for the most part when he just vanishes without a trace for a couple of days. They need to set up better ways for him to cover his disappearances. Plus he continues to make the mistake of doing normal things when he knows he may just vanish, which causes drama for the show but it also makes him kind of stupid. Overall the plotting seems fine and the stories are interesting it's just a little bit of tweaking and all will be well.

Journeyman aires Monday Night at 10PM on NBC

Tuesday

Reaper is another favorite of mine about a young likeable loser named Sam. His life is going nowhere as he works at a Home Depot like store and pines for the hottie behind the cash register. His life changes when his Parents drop a crazy 21st Birthday present on him, eternal enslavement to the devil. Apparently before he was born Sam's parents made a deal with the Devil giving up their first born to the Prince of Darkness when he turns 21. Now the Devil has come to collect and he wants Sam to be his bounty hunter on earth casting damned souls back down to the fiery pits of hell. This is such a crazy concept it might actually work, and in the capable hands of Director Kevin Smith it really becomes something really fun and hilarious. It's kind of a blend between Ghost Rider and the Ghostbusters. Bret Harrison is funny and carries the show well as Sam. The funny honors go to yet another sidekick though---Sock, played by Tyler Labine is hilarious. I mean the guy's name is Sock so y'know it's got to be funny. Not to mention Ray Wise, an old school character actor, who gets to chew up the scenery as a strange mix of Fatherly wisdom and evil bastard playing the Devil.

Reaper aires Tuesday at 9PM on the CW

Wednesday

Bionic Woman Honestly I would've been much more excited if they did a re-make of the Six Million Dollar Man but after watching a few episodes I found myself enjoying this action romp. Jaime Sommers gets a retread from Lindsay Wagner to newcomer Michelle Ryan. Ryan is cute and she seems capable enough. So Ms. Sommers is driving along with her boyfriend until they are blindsided by a Mack truck that puts Jaime into traction. Her boyfriend luckily is a top notch surgeon and he saves her life by replacing her dead body parts with cybernetic implants. So she has an eye replaced, both her legs an arm and one of her eardrums. So Jaime finds herself working for a secret government organization run by Jonas Bledsoe (Miguel Ferrer). So she's got super powers and she still has to come home to take care of her teenager sister. That's a lot to deal with. Not to mention there is a kick ass bad Bionic Woman (Katee Sackhoff) who like to make Jaime's life a little more difficult. I've really enjoyed the show especially Katee Sackhoff as the bad Bionic chick, she chews some scenery for sure but she's fun. It sort of reminded me of Alias and it has some potential to be great. Hopefully if this thing gets a second season maybe we'll see Steve Austin the OG Bionic Man. Do I smell Spin off show potential?

Bionic Woman aires Wednesday at 9PM on NBC

Thursday

My Name is Earl is now entering into it's third season. I have really enjoyed this series it's funny and has a lot of heart. Last season Earl found himself taking the heat for his ex-wife Joy's crime spree and heading off to the big house. So for the first few episodes he's been in jail trying to continue his deal with Karma and helping everyone he can while behind bars. I don't know if they will be able to sustain a viewership if he's in prison the entire season. It has been funny though as he's dealt with rival prisoners in love with each other--kind of a Romeo loves Jules story. As always Jason Lee's back up characters like Randy, Joy and Crabman are hilarious and completely ignorant.

My Name is Earl aires Thursday at 8PM on NBC

30 Rock has started its second season and it's been pretty good so far. It was nice seeing Seinfeld as the first guest star. The best thing about this show though has been and always will be Alec Baldwin as NBC Exec Jack Donaghy. I really hope that Baldwin decides to stay for a few more seasons. If you followed any of his public personal problems with his daughter you might have heard him say that he may retire from acting all together once his contract with the show is up. Tina Fey is great and all but this show does not work without Jack Donaghy, period. I did love the first episode where Jack tries to digitally put Seinfeld into ads and NBC TV shows. Hilarious.

30 Rock aires Thursday at 8:30PM on NBC

The Office is now in its fourth season and it already is better than ever. This is a great ensemble show. Steve Carell is awesome as always but anyone who watches the show knows that Rainn Wilson who plays Dwight steals the show every night. Poor Dwight is in the doghouse with uptight girlfriend Angela this season after he mercy kills her cat and stuffs it in the freezer. Star-crossed lovers Pam and Jim are now dating this season, I'm wondering how long this is going to last. Intern Ryan has also returned as Michael's new boss at corporate, it seems like he's the new Jan except he's gone bad. Jan is also back after she lost her job and living with Michael. They have also added Creed to the regular cast. It's a great show, if you haven't seen an episode you gotta Netflix it. Also check out the original British version with Ricky Gervais, it's pretty funny too.

The Office aires Thursday at 9PM on NBC

Grey's Anatomy This is the fourth season of the show. I've only seen the first two seasons continuously. It's a pretty decent show but most of the characters get on my nerves. My wife really loves the show and the spin-off show Private Practice, which I have not seen. It comes on Wed at 9 by the way. I put it on here cause my wife loves it and it's on a different network from NBC, which I now realize I have a lot of shows that I watch on the Peacock, so I'm trying to have some diversity. Katherine Hiegel is on this show and really she's pretty hot, so if you can deal with that whiney chick who plays Meredith Grey, then it's worth your time to see Katherine looking great.

Grey's Anatomy aires Thursday at 9PM on ABC

Big Shots I'm still kind of the fence with this new show. I've watched a couple of episodes and I'm not really that impressed. I really like Michael Vartan from Alias, Joshua Malina from West Wing and Dylan McDermott. They just whine a lot on this show about their wives, girlfriends and mistresses. I thought it was going to be about these corporate guys and what they do but really it is a male version of Desperate Housewives. I'm going to give it a few more viewings but if this becomes a trend I may just cut it altogether.

Big Shots aires Thursday at 10PM on ABC

Friday

Friday Night Lights is now in it's second season thankfully. This is one of the best of the new shows last year. It was almost terminated permenantly but thankfully NBC decided to give it another chance. Kyle Chandler is excellent as Coach Taylor. Now in the second season the Coach has moved on to be an assistant coach at TMU. Unfortunately his family has stayed in Dillon which causes a major commuting problem. Not to mention that the Coach's wife Tami, played by the awesome Connie Britton is stuck at home with a newborn and a randy teenager who is thinking of cheating on her boyfriend, star quarterback Matt Saracen. The drama can appear to be soapy but it's so well written and the acting is so good that it really transcends any of that daytime TV crap. It's a great drama that mixes teen angst and responsibility with some nice hard nosed football. What more could you want?

Friday Night Lights aires Friday at 9PM on NBC






















Real Time With Bill Maher is now in it's fifth season. I absolutely love this show! As long as W is in the White House only Bill can make me laugh about it. It's biting comedy but Bill is also a smart guy, he can be a smart ass too but mostly he's intelligent and funny and sometimes he says things that may rub you the wrong way but more than likely they turn out to be true. If you don't get HBO I'm sorry but you may be able to catch his show on the web or on Netflix.

Real Time With Bill Maher aires Friday at 11PM on HBO

Tell Me You Love Me is not quite a solid show yet. I've seen a few episodes and it is interesting at times but mostly you get to look at these relationships so closely that you find yourself watching the most mundane and trivial parts of their lives. Basically the show revolves around three couples and how they deal with different stages of their relationships together. One couple is married with kids and they can't have sex. Another is trying to have kids but can't. The third is about a couple who want to get married but have trust issues. The only time so far where I felt this show had some bite is when they have sex. The show tries to show the reality of sex so it shows a bit more skin then other sexy type shows, but again, it still doesn't make this show watchable for more than a season.




Tell Me You Love Me aires Sunday Night at 9PM on HBO

I also watched the season premiere for that show Moonlight on Friday nights on CBS. It is terrible, it is about a Vampire that is a detective and they try to do this whole Phillip Marlowe meets Interview with a Vampire thing. You would think that it was an intriguing premise but after watching just one episode I had to cut it out of my lineup. The guy playing the gumshoe Vampire is terrible, his acting is stilted and he looks like he belongs in one those trashy romance novels. Skip this one at all costs.

Now for your added viewing pleasure I will show you another great reason why these shows are so fun:

On Monday we have: Chuck























Heroes















On Tuesday:






















Reaper


















On Wednesday:


















Bionic Woman








On Thursday:

My Name Is Earl

The Office

























Grey's Anatomy







On Friday:

Friday Night Lights