Continuing on with the look at the fall season, we slip quietly into October. (If you’re playing along with the home game, all this is coming from this TV Guide.com calendar which is exceptionally useful.)
Pushing Daisies (ABC, 8 p.m., Wednesdays)
This show really hit the spot last season. It was whimsical, quirky, uplifting and, at times, downright touching. It also carried through a perverse sense of humor and amazing visual style that left me really wanting more when it’s too-short season came to close. Who would have thought the tale of a pie maker and his once dead girlfriend could be so good for family entertainment? (Premieres Oct. 1)
Private Practice (ABC, 9 p.m., Wednesdays)
As much as I like Grey’s Anatomy, it’s spinoff just didn’t do it for me. At all. I’m actually almost surprised that it’s back for a second season. I say “almost” because it’s a show about pretty people having petty problems while screwing around with one another. It’s got “popular hit” written all over it. Well, you can have it. I’m sure I can find something better to do with this hour. (Premieres Oct. 1)
Dirty Sexy Money (ABC, 10 p.m. , Wednesdays)
Big egos, big spenders, dark secrets and a murder mystery, Dirty Sexy Money has it all. Plus Donald Sutherland. This show actually surprised me last season by being as enjoyable and engaging as it was. I’ve been eagerly awaiting its return–as much to see what the mega-rich Darling family will do next as to find out where the next set of clues in the underlying murder plot lead. (Premieres Oct. 1)
The Ghost Whisperer (CBS, 8 p.m., Fridays)
During its first season, The Ghost Whisperer left me in kind of a diabetic coma. Jennifer Love Hewitt was too cute and sunny for someone who had spent her life dealing with dead people. It wasn’t until a couple of seasons in when the show took a little bit of a darker turn that I came back to it. I haven’t been able to let it go since. Last season, with the discovery of the town beneath the town and impending doom around every corner, I think the show hit a high point. Now I’m curious as to whether they can keep the suspense and momentum going. It’s no Supernatural, but, thankfully, it’s also not Touched By An Angel. (Premieres Oct. 3)
Kath & Kim (NBC, 8:30 p.m., Thursdays)
Chalk up another notch in the “American version of a hit foreign show” column. This one looks to be a “revisioning” of an Aussie show (one of, what, three or four shows that whole continent produces?) The only thing bringing me to this with any hope is Selma Blair. She was one of the key ingredients in making Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane fun and watchable, I’m hoping she does the same for this show. And she’s got a lot to overcome, because none of the characters look that interesting (let alone sympathetic). (Premieres Oct. 9)
Life On Mars (ABC, 10 p.m., Thursdays)
Speaking of American versions of shows that there don’t need to be American versions of… Life on Mars (U.S. version) reportedly changes just about all the details of the BBC show it’s borrowing it’s title from. I’ve been told again and again that I should check out the original (and I will, I promise… it’s on my list!). That tells me the American version is going to have to work pretty hard to either a) dull itself down enough to get a prime-time following here in the states or b) die a quick death like every other time travel flavored show from last season (Journeyman, New Amsterdam). Guess we’ll just have to wait and see. (Premieres Oct. 9)
Eleventh Hour (CBS, 10 p.m., Thursdays)
Competing for the “strange hour of TV on Thursday” slot against Life on Mars is yet another re-tooling of a foreign show. Again it “borrows” plot and characters from the British. This time around Rufus Sewell replaces Patrick Stuart as a guy investigating strange goings on. A plot that sounds oddly like Fringe, which beat this show to air by a few weeks. It’s bound to be another CSI meets Twilight Zone, X-Files wannabe. But I’ll give Sewell a chance. It could be better than Fringe (which I still haven’t decided if I like or not). (Premieres Oct. 9)
Samantha Who? (ABC, 9:30 p.m., Mondays)
I stand firmly behind the idea that you just can’t go wrong with Christina Applegate. Ever since she broke out of the dumb blond role that made her famous, she’s done one good thing after another. The inaugural season of Samantha Who? took a tired concept (character gets amnesia) and brought a new life to it. A strong supporting cast certainly helped, but Applegate is the heart of the show. I’m curious as to whether her real-life battle with breast cancer will get worked into the plot. It wouldn’t surprise me and I don’t doubt it would fit well with the blend of humor and introspection the show has cultivated. (Premieres Oct. 13)
My Own Worst Enemy (NBC, 10 p.m., Mondays)
Speaking of characters who don’t know who they are, here we have Christian Slater playing a hit man and a family man. Two very different lives crammed into the same body due to some deep-cover, sleeper agent brain tweaking. I don’t know if it’s going to be good, but it will be entertaining. At least for a few episodes. I have my doubts if it can be sustained for a while, but I had doubts about Chuck, too, and that just kicked off its second season in a good way. (Premieres Oct. 13)
Eli Stone (ABC, 10 p.m., Tuesdays)
Just in case you don’t have enough quirky lawyers in your diet, Eli Stone apparently returns to life from his first season cliffhanger ending. Either that or this will be the shortest second season ever. The show never really grabbed me, but it was always entertaining. Most of the time, though, it felt like a low-rent David E. Kelley riff. There’s just something missing, which is a shame because Victor Garber is fantastic in his supporting role. Maybe this season will have more song and dance numbers… not sure how much that would help, but, again: entertaining! (Premieres Oct. 14)
Crusoe (NBC, 10 p.m., Fridays)
Hey! It’s the original Lost! come back in the form of an hour long drama. I really haven’t seen a whole lot on this show, but I’ll tune in just to see how far they’ll go to mash as many shows together as possible in the attempt to make a new hit. But it’s on Friday nights at 10 p.m., not much lasts there for long. I give it four episodes tops before it’s gone. (Premieres Oct. 17)
And there you go–your new fall season… or at least the things I’ll be watching or actively avoiding. Everything else, you’re on your own for.
Leave a Reply