Monday, October 24, 2011

New Fall TV report card..."Sorry Charlie"

It's time to check in on how the new Fall 2011 television shows have fared in my opinion since their premieres these past several weeks. I was initially excited about quite a few new prospects, some of which have turned out to be huge disappointments.

The Good:
Up All Night - I love this show so much more than I expected I would. All of my fears about the retooling/reshooting they did were for naught. Will Arnett and Christina Applegate are amazing. Maya Rudolph is a national treasure, and this show has even made me see Nick Cannon's appeal. He's hilarious!

Revenge - Omigod, omigod, OMIGOD, I LOVE this crazy Dynasty-style drama. Since having a dvr I rarely watch TV shows on their actual aired nights. This is the one show that I make an exception for. I can't wait to watch this piece of brilliance every Wednesday. And then when it's done I feel bereft at having to wait another week before I get more. Madeleine Stowe for President y'all! And I forgot how hunky I've always thought Gabriel Mann to be. I want a Nolan of my very own!

Suburgatory - This sitcom is so charming. Who knew Jeremy Sisto could handle comedy with such a deft hand? I love the relationship between his character and his daughter. Gilmore-girlsy but better. Ana Gasteyer and Cheryl Hines are also both hilarious.

Homeland - I've never liked Claire Danes. Never. Either personally or for her acting "ability". I've never understood her appeal. Until now? She's kind of great in this thrilling new drama on Showtime.

The (Oh SO) Bad:
The Playboy Club - I've already talked about this show's cancellation. And while I didn't hate it as much as most people, it did have a lot of things that were wrong with it.

Charlie's Angels - Oh gawd. Why was this show so bad?! I love the original Charlie's Angels so much. I can even appreciate the awful and cheesy season 5. But this remake has truly been awful. Even the beautiful and talented Minka Kelly couldn't save this stinker for me. ABC just announced its blessed cancellation. Season Pass DELETED.

Terra Nova - ZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZzzzzz So awful. Nothing more to say.

The Meh **shrug***:

There are some shows that fall into this category like Ringer, Mad Fashion, and Hart of Dixie that I'm still actively watching on a weekly basis and will continue to do so, but I'm just not jazzed about them. If I miss one or two I'm not going to cry about it.

But most of the shows that I'm lumping in here (Secret Circle, 2 Broke Girls, Prime Suspect, Pan Am, New Girl) are ones that, even though they may be getting good reviews and/or ratings, I'm just not invested in them at all. I've given up. I'm most regretting my ambivalence about New Girl. The 2 episodes I've seen I found really funny, but I just can't be bothered to remember to record it or set up a season pass for it. I watch SO much television already and only have so much dvr space and hours in the day to dedicate to something that isn't grabbing me.

And then there's American Horror Story. WTF is up with this show?! It is so damn wacky and disturbing. And confusing. And weird; but not in a good way. I so wanted to like it (I love most of the cast), and I still like the idea of the show, but its execution has been a failure for me. I'm going to watch the 4th episode this week but I don't know if I can stomach it much longer after that.


On a side note - NBC's Grimm is the only remaining new Fall show that I was interested in that hasn't premiered as of this writing so I can't comment. But it's a good sign that the ads for it still intrigue me. I am a little worried and annoyed that folks are going to confuse it for the OTHER fairytale character drama that premiered this week on ABC called Once Upon A Time. I don't understand the Hollywood phenomenon where similar themed projects are always popping up at the same time and competing against each other. It's really annoying.

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