New TV Season Round-up

As of today most shows are back up and running. Last night was probably the most anticipated with the season premiere of Lost and the series premiere of the highly touted show, The Nine. I'm not going to go much into those too because with the arrival of Tivo nobody actually watches the shows the night it airs anymore. Isn't this making the Nielsen ratings more and more obsolete? Once Tivo becomes an institution won't we just be able to see what shows are recorded the most? Anyway lets look at what this new season is offering.

Jericho-In support of former writer and friend Mike O. I started watching this post-apocalyptic show. In case you have noticed the hot trend this season is once again serial dramas. Thank you Lost! Jericho is about a small town caught in the middle of what seems to be a nuclear war. Which is nice to see these days. It's been awhile since a nuclear holocaust has been given it's airtime. Used be this was the number one fear, now it's all terrorist activities. This show has turned out much better than I thought. The acting is pretty solid. There are also some nice reveals. We still don't know what our prodigal son and hero has been up to before he returned home. We don't know which girl he's going to try to hook up with either. I'm guessing it's the cute nurse and not the hot blond ex. There have been enough nice moments like the reveal of what cities have been hit that keep the viewer intrigued. My main concern is that they are going to hold back reveals too long. They've teased us for three straight episodes with the new guy in town who knows way too much about what's going on. He won't let his family hang out with the other townspeople. He has a gun cache. He got a morse code signal giving him all the cities that have been hit. The audience is going to need a little more information soon, or that character is going to become a gag more than a point of interest.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip-This show proves one thing: If Sorkin actually was in charge of Saturday Night Live it would be worse than the 1980 SNL. Has a single one of the sketches been funny at all? I know I should be focusing more on the stuff happening behind the scenes, but how can I buy them as writers and actors of great comedy when all the skits are awful. It would be better if they never showed the skits. I find the show to be enjoyable but frustrating. The dialog keeps you around but the actual substance of the show will make you feel like you should've left hours ago.

Smith-Cancelled, so whatever I was going to write doesn't matter.

Heroes-I want to like this X-men in street clothes, but it needs some help. The idea is great, but the dialog and acting often brings the whole show to a halt. The only characters I really care about are the telepathic cop and the Japanese cubicle slave who can teleport. Actually, Oka is the only one I really care about. He brings a great joy you expect from someone who's always wanted to be super and discovers he actually is. Everyone else becomes grating in a morose way. The show also misses on some great drama. Take the younger brother of a politician who believes he can fly. He jumps from a building to prove it only to be rescued by his older brother who can actually fly. They could've left it at this. You have the dreamer who treats everyone well and does good things that thinks he's destined for great things. What happens we he finds out it's his crueler politician of a brother that actually has the super powers? How does he react? Does he rebel from his good ways? There's a lot of potential in that. What does the show actually do? They reveal that both brothers can actually fly. Way to shoot yourselves in the foot. I'm giving this show three more episodes to either turn things around or give the Japanese kid his own show.

Friday Night Lights-This is probably my favorite new show so far. It's either this or The Nine. It's too early to tell. There are cliches like every sports movie or television show, but the acting is solid. The little moments are really what makes this show. For example the day before the game the high school team hangs out with some pee wee football kids. You see how much these little kids idolize these football players, and how much their success reflects back on how the town feels. There are nice moments like this that make the show. The football scenes aren't too bad either.