New Fall Shows: Week One
Monday, September 26, 2011 at 7:49PM so, the first week of the new fall season has come and gone and, while there are still more to come, many of the new shows have had their premier. my dvr is a little less full than it was at the end of the week, but i still have more to go - which makes this list a work in progress. so let us begin with these...
New Girl: i thought the pilot was great. very funny and zooey is so endearing. the humour reminds me very much of Happy Endings - a show that ironically stars damon wayons jr. and is the reason why he had to leave New Girl after filming the pilot (not sure if that is technically irony or not. i'm guessing it isn't).
2 Broke Girls: another show with "girl" in the title, but this one ain't so good. it's a pretty typical multi-camera sitcom with maybe a couple laughs. it's off the dvr.
Whitney: another typical multi-camera sitcom. but this one had more than a few laughs. i found the direction and staging very forced - it almost made it too obvious that they were on three wall sets and everything was just set ups to the jokes. there was no real flow. but, like i said, it had some good laughs so i'll give it a little more time.
The Playboy Club: i honestly didn't think i was going to like this one, but i really did. the period-piece aspect is great and the whole intrigue storyline (the main reason i didn't think i was going to like it) has me looking forward to the next episode. i know it's not a great show, but it looks like it is going to be one of my "guilty" pleasures this season... and showing the hugh heffner character only from behind like steinbrenner on Seinfeld is so bad it's good.
Revenge: and here is the other guilty pleasure. the pilot did its job here folks. i want to see how this progresses.
Unforgettable: after watching the pilot i tweeted that "the worst part about remembering everything is that you wouldn't be able to forget you saw Unforgettable." the idea of a women that remembers everything from the time she was a child is really interesting (they did a good piece on this phenomenon on 60 Minutes last season), but the show does nothing to use it in any kind of interesting way besides having her re-watch events in her head that she was at looking for things she saw but didn't notice at the time. it feels gimicky and the old-lover-back-in-town and childhood-trauma-trying-to-solve story lines feel old and uninteresting as well.
Free Agents: i'm on the fence with this one. while i didn't find it overly funny i did kind of enjoy watching it. while the co-workers-sleep-together-but-stay-casual-but-get-jealous thing doesn't feel at all new. in the end it didn't really grab me and while it is remaining on my dvr and ill keep watching for now, if it got cancelled or my dvr didn't record it i wouldn't miss it.
Up All Night: Along with New Girl, Up All Night is one of the two best new comedies of the season. this one is a definite stay-on-the-dvr!
Prime Suspect: i've talked about guilty pleasures, but what we have here is just a pleasure. maria bello is great, the writing is strong and while the pilot wasn't a great episode, it was good, and i can see it getting better.
X Factor: i really don't have much to say here. simon cowell and the gang can hype it however they want, but in the end it's another singing competition. actually it's really just a big cowell ego trip. the second night of the show i didn't even bother flipping over. i might catch some of it here and there if there isn't anything else on. but i won't be making time for it specifically.
Reader Comments (3)
Hey jesse i love the review but didn't you see person of interest, because its a really good show, and with the crazy good ratings its getting it looks like it will go far. Also don't count 2 broke girls out, yes the name is stupid but Kat Denning is really funny especial in the second episode. Also up all night is a little hit and miss with me, not really hitting all the right notes that i need it to, but Whitney is really doing it for me. It just like up all night except that it has no kid and they are not married, plus there is a laugh track, which i find funny in and of itself.
I'm liked the New Girl pilot and Up All Night has some great potential. I laughed out loud multiple times in the second episode about the cool neighbors. I found 2 Broke Girls to be funnier than Whitney. I know Whitney's whole character flaw is that she's annoying but she played it a little too well if you know what I mean. :)
I'm really liking Ringer on CW. After reluctantly falling in love with SMG on Buffy, I can't help but like her again. I'm saving Terra Nova to watch with my husband but I have high sci-fi hopes.
I've got Suburgatory on my DVR but I haven't seen it yet. Can't wait to see if it lines up with Chrystina's predictions based on the cast photo.
I'm looking forward to hearing your next podcast!
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