TivoGirl breaks down the New Fall Schedule!

Hello, TiVoGirl here.  So dubbed due to the 8 trillion TiVos I own (or close to it anyways).  I’m married to Toaster and he and Jonny Prophet thought this blog would be a good place for me to share my love of all things Television.

            So, with the Fall Season starting Tuesday, I thought I would write a quick (or as brief as I can make it) rundown on my thoughts, night-by-night.

SUNDAYS

            ABC will air America’s Funniest Home Videos, Once Upon a Time, Desperate Housewives, and Pan Am.  Once Upon a Time, with fairy tale characters like Snow White trapped in a small New England Town with their memories erased wins the award for most original show this fall.  It remains to be seen if they can actually execute it properly, but I’m intrigued, which is more than I can say for most of this season’s new shows. 

Desperate Housewives is heading into its final season, and while I’m hard-pressed to name any storyline that I liked from last year (Gaby gets obsessed with a doll!  Tom gets a new job, becomes a workaholic, and Lynette decides to divorce him, blowing up the one functional marriage on the show!  Susan takes off her clothes on the Internet!  Then her Kidneys fail!  Paul’s son tries to kill him!  Then his old arch-nemesis tries to kill him!  And frame Susan!  And his wife commits suicide!  Bree dates!) I’m sure I’ll be tuning in.  While the plotting last season left something to be desired, the show can still be really damn funny. 

Pan Am is one of those new shows that looks innocuous enough, but unless the pilot really wows me, I can see the unwatched episodes piling up on my TiVo until I finally delete the Season Pass… not because I didn’t like the show, but because there was just nothing driving me to watch those episodes.

            CBS will have 60 Minutes, The Amazing Race, The Good Wife, and CSI: Miami.  I’ve heard The Amazing Race is one of the better reality shows, but thus far I’ve only broken down and watched reality TV on cable, mostly in the summer when scripted TV takes a bit of a breather.  So, sorry, not much to say about this show. 

The Good Wife kicked it up a notch at the end of last season, enough for me to forgive them for all the bad plotting with Scott Porter’s character.  Particularly, the scene where Alicia tells Peter he’s moving out (or, really, she’s moved him out), and the final, wonderfully shot elevator sequence with Alicia and Will, finally deciding to consummate their simmering attraction really made me feel as though this is a much better show than it probably is.  So I’ll definitely be watching, though with so much good stuff on Sundays, I probably won’t watch this until later in the week (unless Toaster is working and I have to wait to watch our cable favorites).  If you plan to watch The Good Wife, don’t forget to set your TiVos to allow for NFL overrun. 

I don’t have much to say about CSI: Miami.  Unless procedurals do something special (The Closer), or don’t feel like Procedurals (The Good Wife), I tend to steer clear.  Most of these shows aren’t bad; they’re just not my cup of tea, and there are better things I could be doing.

            NBC will air Football.

            FOX will be airing a two-and-a-half hour Animation block, with over half its offerings being helmed by Seth McFarlane.  The Cleveland Show, airing at 7:30, is probably my least favorite of the three.  But at heart, I’m just not a Seth McFarlane kind of girl.  Family Guy, airing at 9:00, can have some good satire, and if I’m at a hotel and it’s on, I’ll watch, but the only TiVo it appears on is Toaster’s.  South Park generally does better satire, and I usually don’t have time to watch that (though it does sit around on my TiVo, just in case).  American Dad, Seth’s final show, is on at 9:30, and is, as far as I’m concerned, a slightly inferior Family Guy clone.  Since I don’t watch Family Guy, I won’t be watching this. 

The Simpsons will air its 10,000^th season at 8:00 (or at least it seems that way).  I know there are still good episodes and all, but with so many mediocre episodes in between, and so many good shows on Sundays, this show has fallen by the wayside. 

Allen Gregory, a new show about a highly intellectual, socially inept kid who is forced to go to public school when his two Dads make some bad investments, will air after The Simpsons.  Haven’t heard anything good, but I haven’t heard anything bad either, so I’ll reserve judgment until an actual episode airs.

            As is becoming more and more the case these days, Cable is where the really good shows are.  Showtime will air Dexter and Homeland.  I’m hoping Dexter will actually break out from its formula this year (the new Showtime president says it will), but I expect to watch it either way, though it will likely be one of those shows that gets kicked to Monday, unless there’s a really good cliffhanger the week before. 

Homeland, about a POW who comes home, but might be a double-agent (but the only agent who suspects him might be mentally unstable), has potential.  It’s Showtime, so I’m more excited about this than I would be based on the logline alone.  It’s based on an Israeli format, which worked well for competitor HBO in the past (In Treatment).

            AMC will air The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad (which is halfway through its season), and new Western Hell on Wheels.  The Walking Dead was not as good last year as it probably could have been, and there’s been some behind-the-scenes turmoil with their showrunner leaving, so this season is something of a question mark.  That being said, Toaster loves it (it’s based on a Comic book), and I like it, so barring any waterskiing trips with sharks, we’ll be watching. 

Toaster and I marathon-ed Breaking Bad this summer and were not disappointed.  It took me a few episodes to really get hooked (I knew it was a good show, but it didn’t quite grab me until we took a break from the meth lab and showed Walt and Jesse with their families).  This is probably our top-priority show for Sunday nights.  Like most good dramas, each season is something of a re-invention… yes, Walt and Jesse are still cooking meth (although Jesse is spending less and less time in the lab and more and more time shadowing Mike), but the circumstances keep changing.  The universe expands (Gus, Mike), people find out (Skylar, maybe Hank), and the stakes change (Walt is now a dead man walking, sure to be terminated in the truest sense of the word as soon as Gus finds a suitable replacement). 

I haven’t exactly heard great things about Hell on Wheels, and AMC has spent the summer frittering away all the good will it had stocked up all these years (The Walking Dead behind-the-scenes turmoil, the end (and uneven second half) of The Killing, the very public Mad Men and Breaking Bad re-negotiations).  I’m sure I’ll watch the first episode of Hell on Wheels (unless the reviews are horrible), but I don’t expect to like it (though I’m prepared to be pleasantly surprised).

            Finally (who knew Sunday would take this long) there’s HBO, which will air Boardwalk Empire, Hung, and Enlightened.  Boardwalk Empire was the best new show last fall (not that there was much competition) and this is up there is Breaking Bad as a show I’ll make every effort to watch the night it airs.  Based on the concept alone I wasn’t sure I’d love this show, but Nucky is a fascinating character, a very different kind of gangster, and Margaret, his paramour, is one of those great female characters on cable, a sweet, seemingly moral woman, who nonetheless knows how to take care of herself and get what she wants. 

I know Hung isn’t that great of a show, but I like it anyways.  Maybe because it’s set in Detroit, an hour from where I live, and at its heart it’s about the desperate things people do to try to keep their heads above water.  For a comedy it’s not super-funny, but this is cable, so it doesn’t have to be.  I thought last season was an improvement over Season One, mainly because Jessica, Ray’s ex-wife, went from being grating to amusing. 

HBO’s new comedy, Enlightened, doesn’t look to be funny in the slightest.  Again, this is cable, it doesn’t have to be funny, but it also (based on the previews) doesn’t look interesting.  But it’s HBO, which has built up some good will, so it will get an episode to prove itself.

MONDAYS

            ABC will air Dancing with the Stars and Castle.  Since I don’t watch either of these shows, there’s not much to say.  Castle is one of those innocuous procedurals that I don’t hate, it just doesn’t give me enough to for me to want to make time for it in what promises to be a busy schedule of TV-viewing.

            CBS will air How I Met Your Mother, 2 Broke Girls, Two and a Half Men, Mike and Molly, and Hawaii Five-O.  The only show I expect to be watching is How I Met Your Mother, which admittedly had an on-and-off season last year, but I still love it.  Ted doesn’t get the best storylines, but I love Lily and Marshall and am excited to see them move on to the next phase in their lives (Lily’s pregnant), plus I’m a huge Barnman-and-Robin shipper, so here’s hoping Robin is the bride in Barney’s future wedding (if not I may throw something at the TV). 

2 Broke Girls will get an episode to prove itself (or part of one, if it’s really bad).  So far the laugh track seemed overused in the clips I’ve seen, and the sarcastic waitress didn’t seem nearly sarcastic enough. 

We probably won’t be watching Two and a Half Men (man, CBS loves its shows with numbers in the name), although there is a temptation to see what it will look like with Ashton Kutcher replacing Charlie Sheen.  Once upon a time we did watch this show, but it fell off the radar as better shows came on, and got ripped from the TiVo when Sheen assaulted his now-ex-wife.  Be as crazy and drugged out as you like, but don’t hold a knife to your wife’s throat if you want me to keep TiVo-ing your show. 

Mike and Molly we will not be watching.  I don’t find it all that funny, and the fat jokes seem kind of offensive.  And really, can you build a whole show around fat jokes? 

Hawaii Five-O will be back at ten.  Seems like harmless fun, but again, procedurals just aren’t my cup of tea, and there are plenty of other good shows I could be watching.

            NBC will air two hours of The Sing Off, some sort of reality singing competition.  Since I don’t like American Idol, I have no interest in watching its clones.  The Playboy Club will air at 10.  Since it looks to be the lesser of the two 60s-set dramas airing this fall (the other being Pan Am), I doubt I’ll be watching past the first episode.  But Eddie Cibrian is pretty, so I’ll watch the pilot.

            FOX will air Terra Nova and House.  Terra Nova could be good, but probably won’t be.  I don’t care how pretty the CGI dinosaurs are, I want interesting characters and storyline, and from what I’ve heard they seem to have been sacrificed somewhat in favor of the cool-looking dinos.  Based on the previews I’m far more intrigued by the dystopian future than the prehistoric past.  I think we need a good dystopian future drama, but, sadly, this isn’t it.  Still, it will probably get a few episodes before I pull the plug, just based on the dystopian future tease. 

House will get watched, though, like last year, it may pile up on the TiVo and get marathon-ed during hiatuses.  I’ll make an effort to watch the first episode, since last season ended on one heck of a cliffhanger, but once the status quo (minus Cuddy) is restored, this one will probably get pushed to the back burner.

            The CW will air Gossip Girl and Hart of Dixie.  Gossip Girl used to be a fun guilty pleasure for me, but I stopped watching part way through last season (the unwatched episodes still sitting on my TiVo), and with the only character I was still really interested in, Eric, having left, I don’t see much need to come back to this one.  But it’s still on my TiVo, so I could change my mind. 

Hart of Dixie may get an episode if I have time.  Rachel Bilson looks cute.  Scott Porter is in it.  The overall plot and setting I don’t really care about.  But Scott’s cool and Rachel’s cute, so we’ll see.

TUESDAYS

            ABC will kick things off with a pair of “manxiety” shows, Last Man Standing and Man Up!  Tim Allen’s in the first one.  So I may watch five minutes out of nostalgia for the 90s TV of my childhood, but I don’t expect to like it.  Man Up! looks slightly better.  But since it’s another generic, three-guys-in-different-relationships-with-different-problems kind of show, I doubt I’ll be watching past the first episode. 

At nine they’ll air the Dancing with the Stars results show, to be replaced by returning favorite Cougar Town and new show Apartment 23 once the Dancing cycle completes.  Cougar Town, which is not even slightly about a Cougar, may be renamed (I’m voting for Friends with Beverages).  If you’ve never watched this show, don’t let the title put you off.  It’s a bunch of friends who drink too much wine and have weird contests and are generally charming, fun, and enormously self-centered.  Plus there’s Bobby, the lovable redneck who introduced me to noodling (it’s a type of fishing that involves using your arm as bait).  Very, very funny show. 

Apartment 23 will get at least one episode to prove itself to me.  ABC has been very good with single-camera comedies lately, and James Van Der Beek playing some version of himself sounds intriguing. 

ABC finishes the night with Body of Proof, another one of those innocuous procedurals that I just don’t have the time to care about.

            CBS airs a trio of such shows, NCIS, NCIS: LA, and Unforgettable.  Not much to say about these, although Unforgettable would sound a bit more intriguing if I thought they were going to show the downside to remembering absolutely everything (House did an episode on this awhile back).

            NBC will air another two-hour reality show (The Biggest Loser) followed by Parenthood.  I like Parenthood quite a bit, and it earns extra good will by being helmed by Friday Night Lights showrunner Jason Katims.  That being said, I thought the finale had a little too much sentimentality, and I hope they keep that in check next year.  The show can be very funny, and there are times when the big emotions work quite nicely, but they have to be doled out sparingly to truly have impact.  I like the fact that they’re showing some situations not often seen on TV (a grown woman tending bar and living with her parents, an eighteen-year-old not in college, a kid with Asperger’s, separated parents trying to successfully co-parent their child), I just hope they can make this season the best it can be (and that it gets good enough ratings that I don’t have to worry about whether it gets a Season Four).

            FOX will air Glee, New Girl, and Raising Hope.  Since I don’t like much pop music, nor do I want to see plot lines pulled out of thin air and characters manipulated so as to fit the song list for the week, I’ll be skipping Glee. 

Toaster and I watched the sneak preview of New Girl, which he seemed to like quite a bit more than I did.  I didn’t hate the show, but on my own, I probably wouldn’t watch a second episode.  But Toaster liked it, so we’ll definitely be watching the second episode. 

Raising Hope is a show we saw some potential in last year, then never got around to watching a second episode.  If time permits, I’d like to check back in on the show to see how much I like whatever it’s evolved into.

            The CW will be airing 90210 (can’t they let the 90s die?!) and Ringer.  Ringer sounds to be very soapy and not good, plus its got basically the same plot as an ABC Family show I never got around to watching (The Lying Game), but it’s premiering before the glut of new shows, so I’m sure we’ll check it out.

WEDNESDAYS

            Wednesdays are comedy night on ABC.  The Middle comes back at 8:00.  I really like this show.  It kind of reminds me of the glory days of Roseanne (although the older kids aren’t as well developed of characters), before Roseanne became a total b-word (I don’t like to use this word, since it’s kind of insulting that it’s only directed towards women, when there are plenty of men who deserve it too).  I like to see the struggles of working-class, haphazard parents (I think once I have kids, this show will make me feel like I’m not alone in doing a perfectly adequate job).  Frankie isn’t angry, annoying, or caustic, Mike is a decent husband and father, and the show doesn’t revolve around them screwing up and fighting about it.  They struggle with bills and kids and relatives, usually as partners, and they’re both just quirky enough to be funny.  The kids are fine, with eccentric youngest child Brick as the standout.  As the show moves forward, I hope they give middle-child Sue a bit more dimension besides being awkward, forgettable, and bad at everything. 

Following The Middle is new show Suburgatory, following a sarcastic city girl who is forced to move to the suburbs after her dad finds condoms in her room.  Given ABC’s track record for the night, I have high hopes for this show.  I spent the better part of my childhood in the suburbs, but they’re still fun to make fun of. 

Modern Family will be back at nine.  This is the great ABC comedy success, yet of the three they launched in 2009 (we won’t count the short-lived Hank), this is my least favorite.  Manny is funny, Phil and Jay and their respective family dramas can be funny, but it all feels a little too sitcommy at times, particularly with Cam and Mitchell’s storylines.  Cam can be way too much of a one-dimensional stereotype, which is too bad, since they have the opportunity to defy stereotypes.  Case in point: Cam played football in college, which is a nice character note, except that it only comes up once per season when the plot demands it.  The rest of the time he’s just flamboyant. 

Happy Endings will be back at 9:30.  Toaster and I meant to check this out last season, but it premiered just as Hockey Playoff season was starting and all our shows were coming back from hiatus, so we never got around to it.  Hopefully we’ll have time to check out what it’s evolved into; I’ve heard it’s not bad. 

Because ABC doesn’t seem to have a good Medical Drama or Light Comedic Hour to air after this, they’re airing Revenge, about a woman, well, getting revenge in the Hamptons.  While looking pretty.  Seriously doubt I’ll give this an episode.

            CBS will air Survior (sorry, reality, I don’t watch it), Criminal Minds (the most grisly and least innocuous of CBS’ procedurals), and original-flavor CSI.  I’m glad Ted Danson’s found work after a great turn on Damages, but it’s not exactly going to make me watch.

            NBC will kick things off with new comedy Up All Night.  I like Will Arnett and I like Christina Applegate, and I’ve heard Maya Rudolph is good at what she does, so we’ll definitely be giving this one an episode.  My friends had a baby not too long ago, so hopefully the humor will feel topical. 

At 8:30 NBC is airing Free Agents, about a pair of co-workers who sleep together.  Because I like Hank Azaria, I will probably watch the first episode.  I probably won’t watch a second. 

At 9:00, they’ll offer David E Kelly’s Harry’s Law.  I’m not one of those people who like David E Kelly shows (no offence intended for those who do), and I’m one of the few people who didn’t like Kathy Bates on The Office, so I won’t be watching this.  Law and Order: SVU, minus one of its two leads, and soon to be minus both, will be back at 10.  This show tends to do worse when it’s aired in the later timeslot, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this was it’s last year.  Then again, NBC doesn’t have a lot of well-rated shows, so who knows?

            FOX will air 90 minutes of Simon Cowell’s new The X Factor.  Since I don’t like Simon and never cared about American Idol, I won’t be watching.  Premiering at the end of November, comedy I Hate my Teenage Daughter is supposed to follow this, though given the bad press surrounding it, and how easy it is to pad an episode of reality TV, I have to wonder if it will see the light of day.  Assuming it does, I don’t think it will last long.  I might check out an episode just to see the train wreck, but I will be absolutely shocked if this show ever makes it onto my Season Pass list.

            The CW will air reality TV: H8TR, in which people who hate celebrities spend time with them and learn to like them (great, just what Snooki needs, more people telling her she’s just fine the way she is), and their big success, America’s Next Top Model.  Since the segments of ANTM I see on The Soup horrify me, I won’t be watching this show either.

            Last but not least, USA will air Psych on Wednesdays at 10.  Psych is good harmless fun, one of the best of USA’s offerings.  I like the fact that they’ve finally hooked up Jules and Shawn.  Toaster and I will be watching, though this one may pile up a bit on the TiVo from time to time.