A Couch Potato’s Shangri-La
September 18th, 2006 | by Scott |I’m a TV watcher. I admit it. To quote Arlo Guthrie, “I’m not proud. Or tired.” At the end of the day I like to prop the ole 10 and a halfs up on the ottoman and simultaneously flick the TV on and the exegesis-addled brain off.
Well, tonight officially begins the new fall season. (Fox began a few weeks ago due to their baseball coverage in October and a couple of lame reality shows have already tipped.)
Fox has already unveiled most of their new shows. Most of them reek with two exceptions: Justice, starring Victor Garber as a Defense Attorney counterpart to House. This show is worth watching for Garber’s performance alone.
‘Til Death starring Raymond’s Brad Garrett is a hilarious look at marriage.
In addition to my staples on the TV landscape (Gilmore Girls, Lost, The Office, etc) come a bevy of new shows. Looking at each night, there will be much to choose from. Here are the new shows I am most looking forward to, in order:
Studio 60 on The Sunset Strip–Aaron Sorkin is a genius. And what better show possibility than a mashup of Sports Night (Greatest.Sitcom.Ever) and The West Wing? This show is a must-see. An interesting tidbit: there is only one show on TV that rivals Sorkin’s dialogue. The Gilmore Girls. In a bit of casting genius Lauren Graham will appear in a two episode arc in November.
Jericho–Premiering Wednesday night, this nuclear holocaust drama is risky. But a strong cast and an intriguing pilot means I’ll be coming back for repeated viewing. The ultimate question is how they will be able to sustain this over the length of a series. How many cities have been attacked? How will the fall-out affect them in this tiny Kansas town?
The Nine (Oct. 4)–Nine different people are held hostage during a bank robbery. 52 hours later they emerge, changed and scarred. This show deals with the aftermath of the ordeal as these characters find themselves forever bound to one another. As they strive to piece together their lives and make sense of what took place inside the bank, more of what happened will be revealed. This show could be a break-out hit. It’s tight and compelling and it follows a little show called Lost.
30 Rock (Oct. 11)–I love Tina Fey.
Friday Night Lights (Oct. 3)–I didn’t love the pilot as much as many critics do but I still intend to give it a shot when it bows in a couple of weeks. The game scenes were realistic but I have the feeling that will be secondary to the off-screen dramas. If they focus on that it could be a hit. Otherwise, the female demographic will tune out in droves.
Heroes–(Sept. 25)–Don’t we need a good super-hero show? No, not really. But I’m intrigued none-the-less.
What shows are you looking forward to?
If you are looking for a good TV blog this is the best one.
And if you missed “The Lost Experience” then you need to watch this. It explains Hurley’s numbers and what the Dharma initiative is all about.
19 Responses to “A Couch Potato’s Shangri-La”
By Phil Wilson on Sep 18, 2006 | Reply
Battlestar Galactica… I’m not sure how much clearer I can make it.
By Sunny Bybee on Sep 18, 2006 | Reply
I am so excited about the shows coming back on. Since Jason and I added 2 littles ones to the mix, we watch a lot of tv. I really enjoy it and don’t feel guilty! We can’t afford to do anything else anyways. I don’t think that I will give the new shows a chance. One new show - Gilmore Girls. Since Jason has class on Tuesdays, I need a show. I will give this one a try. I’ve only heard great things about it!
What will I watch? CSI - Miami, Amazing Race, Survivor, Lost, CSI, and Grey’s Anatomy. Jason and I will pull out the new season of Everybody Loves Raymond (In stores tomorrow - I think) and our DVD collection of The Honeymooners (the one with Jackie Gleason). After Christmas, I will tune back in to American Idol and 24.
By justin on Sep 18, 2006 | Reply
I’ve watched the pilot to studio 60 about 6 times now, and I’m still gonna make sure to watch it tonight. I’m actually more excited about what’s to come (even though the pilot is amazing) because the actors will grow into their characters. The first episode of studio 60 reminds me of the sportsnight pilot, because its obvious that some of the actors are having to work really hard to master the banter that sorkin writes, all the while walking around through the set.
I just watched a little west wing this afternoon, just to get me in a sorkin mood.
By scott on Sep 18, 2006 | Reply
Phil, I hear a lot of great things about Battlestar. Here’s the deal: I’m already like what? 58 episodes behind. I’m far too OCD to enjoy it unless I watch it from the beginning. Maybe I’ll do just that sometime soon.
By scott on Sep 18, 2006 | Reply
Sunny, I hope you like Gilmore. It is truly a great show. I hope starting in the seventh season won’t put you too far behind. You should give the new shows a shot, as well.
By the way, this is a homage to your husband: I’m replying individually to pad my comment total.
By scott on Sep 18, 2006 | Reply
Justin, if it is half the show Sports Night was it’ll be a classic.
By Jason Bybee on Sep 18, 2006 | Reply
I’m watching Studio 60 tonight. But I’ll be keeping an eye on MNF, hoping Matt Jones and Jeff Reed stink up the joint.
And there’s nothing wrong with individual replies.
By John on Sep 19, 2006 | Reply
I watched Studio 60 last night and it was well worth the time. As any Sorkin work the writing and dialog was dead on. I thought that Judd Hirsch’s speech at the start hit the nail right on the head on why most of the TV now is horrible. Can’t wait to see more.
By Bobby Valentine on Sep 19, 2006 | Reply
I watch TV from time to time too. I watched football on Saturday and Sunday … got my wife to join me for about 45 minutes. When she left me I finished reading Leonard Sweet’s new book “The Three Hardest Words”
Shalom,
Bobby Valentine
By Phil Wilson on Sep 19, 2006 | Reply
Scott, if you were in Nashville, I’d lend you the Battlestar DVDs.
And yes, Studio 60 was very, very good. I liked seeing matt Perry outside of Chandler and thought Bradley Whitford was great as well. Weekly tune in for me.
By TH on Sep 19, 2006 | Reply
To be such a big LOST fan I embarrassed to admit that I haven’t heard of the “Lost Experience” Where did this come from and what’s it all about?
By Scott on Sep 19, 2006 | Reply
Studio 60 was great and I believe it will get better as time progresses.
I personally grew to loathe the Chandler Bing character as Friends did a slow agonizing slide into mediocrity. Those last few seasons were brutal. But I love Perry and Whitford together.
TH, http://www.thelostexperience.com/ is an on-line way to keep excitement built up.
By Richie on Sep 19, 2006 | Reply
In addition to Grey’s, Housewives, and Scrubs, I’m interested in 6 Degrees.
I thought about Sunset or whatever it’s called, but the couple of reviews I read (Entertainment Weekly for one) said it was really bad.
By Richie on Sep 19, 2006 | Reply
And I meant Studio 60, not Sunset. I’m really awake. . .
By Scott on Sep 19, 2006 | Reply
Richie, did you see Comedy Central is now running Scrubs? They began last night with the pilot.
Six Degrees might be good with JJ Abrams and all.
you should give studio 60 a shot.
By Richie on Sep 19, 2006 | Reply
No, I didn’t know that about Scrubs — thanks for the info. I usually JJ Abrams for a while (Season 1 of Lost, Seasons 1-2 of Felicity, Seasons 1-3 of Alias) and then he fizzles out. I hope he can sustain a show for several seasons. We’ll see. I thought he did a great job with MI3.
We’ll see on Studio 60.
By nhe on Sep 20, 2006 | Reply
A lot of this stuff looks good. I’m sure I’d like Greys and some of the others if I sat down and watched them….too many kid activities at night, and I don’t use my DVR/Tivo like I should.
“24″ is my only “appointment viewing” show. I always DVR “Prison Break” - which has become quite good in season 2. I’m also a big “Curb Your Enthusiasm fan”, but I usually just wait and buy the seasons on DVD.
I can’t get into “Lost”, I’ve tried, but I think it tries at times to emphasize cleverness over character and story arch - that bugs me, and loses me.
I’ll probably give the Lost-like “The Nine” a chance, and maybe “Kidnapped”……we also DVR “Survivor” every week - we’re addicts, its sad……..Scott, who won Rock Star? I didn’t see the final.
By Scott on Sep 20, 2006 | Reply
24 is my favorite show, and I really enjoy Prison Break. It wears me out sometimes, with its continual setbacks, but I like it.
I like Lost but I don’t love it like a lot of people. Maybe this year when it runs uninterrupted I’ll enjoy it more.
The pilot for “The Nine” was strong. Could be intriguing.
Lukas won Rock Star.
By nhe on Sep 20, 2006 | Reply
Lukas won?……..interesting….he definitely (I thought) had the most talent, but also the most attitude and angst, and I’m not sure I’d want to go seem him front a band in concert - that weird song he wrote about his mother was awful, but Supernova loved it…..”Supernova” is an angst-ridden group, so he’ll fit right in.