1. Fringe (Fox) – (Started September 9th) J.J. Abrams seems to have a pattern for picking his leads: one cute female (relatively unknown) and one attractive male, preferably from some kind of show that had a teenybopper audience – possibly add in a dash of comic relief to spice things up. In this show, the hot mama in question is Anna Torv (playing FBI Agent Olivia Dunham), the hunkey man-type is Joshua Jackson (formerly of Dawson’s Creek fame – playing super-smart Peter Bishop) and John Noble (playing Dr. Walter Bishop – Peter’s father, also ridiculously intelligent, and nutty as a squirrel turd – thus the comic relief). (If you’re wondering what the parallels are, in LOST their counterparts would be Evangeline Lilly, Matthew Fox (previously of Party of Five) and Jorge Garcia (Hurley – not wicked smaht, but equally funny.)) What you’ve missed so far: melting people on a plane, rapidly aging serial killers and psychic lab experiments – oh, and they pulled the eye out of a corpse to do… oh, I forget, but it was pretty gross. What could sink this show? Right now, Fox is actually doing a pretty decent job promoting Fringe, so they’re not a problem – yet. But if they don’t let Olivia get over her dead ex soon and start to crack a smile? Even the crazytown antics of Dr. Bishop won’t be enough to lighten the mood after a while. We need levity injected into a show with such a serious backstory. Final words: the shadowy conspiracy in this mythology series has a name: The Pattern. Oooooh, the evil pattern. Is it the government? The scary corporate scientists? Needlework designs fom Hell? I’ll never tell - XOXO.
2. The Mentalist (CBS) – (Started September 23rd) Patrick Jane works as an independent detective who uses his honed observation skills to assist law enforcement in solving crimes. Add a spunky sidekick in the pharmaceutical biz, a spunky female cop as a love interest and a head detective nicknamed Lassie? Yeah, isn’t this already a show on USA called Psych? Oh, but this one isn’t supposed to be funny? Okay. Worth checking out, but if you have to choose between this and House – not sure how many will tune in…
3. House (Fox) – (Started September 16th) So, Dr. Wilson may or may not blame House for the death of his girlfriend – but he definitely doesn’t want to be friends anymore, so he’s moved away. A character replacement that seems to be working oddly well? The private detective House hired to get background dirt on his patients – oh, and he hired him to spy on Wilson, but that’s really no surprise. And yes, the new team is still intact (Foreman, Thirteen, that guy from Harold & Kumar and the cranky ex-plastic surgeon). Also still going strong – the weekly lumbar puncture, House’s crankiness/general insanity and a steady increase in the amount of gross and gooey procedures. Bottom line: if you don’t know how good House is by now, we may need a psych consult – or another L.P. just to be safe…
4. The Shield (FX) – (Started September 2nd) Whether or not you agree with Vic Mackey’s strongarm politics, he’s always gotten the job done. Granted, he might’ve burnt some people’s faces off along the way, and maybe he stole a truckload of money from the Russian mob – nobody’s perfect. The thing to remember about this show, though? This is one of the cable network successes that proved that original scripted programs could exist beyond the major networks. AND they could be just as edgy as anything on HBO or Showtime. So give this show some love – it’s the final season, and I’m betting they don’t bow out quietly.
5. Eli Stone (ABC) – (Starts October 14th) A mid-season replacement from last year that came out with a success story – a pickup for season 2! And there are few shows as deserving – the quirky dramedy about a lawyer whose George Michael-centric hallucinations turn him into a modern-day prophet is funny, well written and populated with a fantastic cast. Jump on board when it starts up again – I’m sure the “Previously On” voiceover guy will tell you anything you missed – just a hunch.See you soon for more – but not much more, we’re almost caught up. Again, for the full premiere grid go here.
No comments:
Post a Comment