Fall TV Preview

The following are the TV shows I plan on watching this fall and the ones I wish were coming back sooner.


The Definites or the shows I'll definitely be watching every week asap

How I Met Your Mother, Monday 8:30, premieres 9/22 (CBS)
A sit-com that I ran into a couple years ago and have been watching ever since. It's a funny show and manages to avoid a lot of the obvious scenarios that sit-coms always bring up.

House, Tuesday 9:00, premieres 9/16 (FOX)
Everyone watches this show, but Hugh Laurie is just so great as House. The other characters are decent, and I enjoyed the shakeup in the cast last year. The biggest problem is that almost every episode follows the same format: weird disease, first treatment doesn't work, second treatment doesn't work, House finds some strange connection and figures out the problem. It gets old, but the show is definitely worth it for the interactions between characters and House's wit.

The Office, Thursday 9:00, premieres 9/25 (NBC)
Ah, what can I say about The Office. Hilarious, smart, quirky, no laugh track... it's just perfect. Definitely the show I'm looking forward to most.

30 Rock, 9:30, premieres 10/30 (NBC)
Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan at his funniest since he was dancing with meat in that one movie about the black presidential election. It's enough to say that in the first episode Tracy Morgan runs down a busy New York street in his underwear, swinging a lightsaber and yelling that he's a Jedi.

Californication, Sunday 10:00, premieres 9/28 (Showtime)
David Duchovny is a cross between Mulder and Caleb's dad in this drama about a writer who's lost his muse. Full of sex and classic Duchovny humor, the show is simply amazing.


The Probables, or the shows that I'll be watching every week sometime, probably

The Big Bang Theory, Monday 8:00, premieres 9/22 (CBS)
A hot girl moves in next door to two geeks. Sound awful? I thought so too, but the show really gets the dynamics right. The geeks have interesting and very distinct personalities and the hot girl is ditzy, but by no means brain dead. It works very well. The first few episodes were a little heavy on the laugh track, in my opinion, but by midseason they really hit their stide.

Chuck, Monday 8:00, premieres 9/29 (NBC)
From the guy who brought you The OC, Chuck is about some computer guy who becomes a secret agent. While not always having the cleverest of plots and being a bit over the top, it's a good show with very likable characters and good dialog.

My Name is Earl 8:00, premieres 9/25 (NBC)
Jason Lee. That's about all I need to say, but I guess I'll continue... Earl is a self-reformed criminal on a mission to pay back everyone he has wronged.

The Simpsons 8:00, premieres 9/28 (Fox)
It hurts me to put this in the probables, but I just haven't been in love with the last few seasons. Hell, I didn't even watch a new episode last year. It just seems to me that the situations have become way over the top. I miss the simpler plots that relied more on story-telling and character interactions than zaniness. But... it's still gold compared to most of the crap on TV.

Family Guy 9:00, premieres 9/28 (Fox)
I have such a love/hate relationship with this show. At times it appeals to the lowest common denominator so much that it drives me insane. They drive jokes into the ground until I want to pull my hair out, yet they always seem to redeem themselves with a clever, off-beat, dorky joke that is just hilarious.

The Newcomers or shows I have yet to see, but which look interesting

Sanctuary, Friday 9:00, premieres 10/3 (Sci-Fi)
Originally airing (is that the right word?) as webisodes, it follows a doctor who investigates monsters and such. I don't really know much more about it, but I'm in. Though, it's no substitute for Battlestar Galactica.

Fringe, Tuesday 9;00, premiere aired 9/9 (Fox)
A cross between The X-Files and The Twilight Zone? I'll give it a try, especially because the people bringing it to us are pretty decent. I really have no idea what it's about... there's a mad scientist and an FBI agent or something.


The No-Shows or shows that will be airing after the new year

Scrubs (ABC)
Reports of its demise are greatly exaggerated. The long running medical comedy leaves NBC for ABC in what will be it's eighth season. While the show has gotten just a bit stale, I still enjoy it a lot for it's characters, music and yes... even those annoying lessons at the end of every episode.

Lost (ABC)
Oh god... where do I begin? If you haven't seen this show before, don't bother. Start for the beginning if you want to be confused, but jumping in during a random episode is a very bad idea. Sure, it's annoying how badly they string you along in classic drama fashion... but it's an insanely popular sci-fi show on a major network and it really is good. The ensemble cast is great and it does make a lot more sense than most people think. You just have to pay attention.

Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi)
It's finally come to this... after a mini-series, three and a half seasons, a straight to DVD movie (which was very good) and numerous webisodes, Battlestar is finally coming to an end. Because of the writer's strike, only the first half of season four was aired last spring, leaving the rest of the season for 2009. It's been a long journey since I first watched the mini-series back when it was uncertain if there even would be a series. One of the best shows on TV, and while I'm sad it's going, I'm glad they are going to end it how they wish without dragging it on.