The next property from J.J. Abrams, here producing alongside frequent co-collaborator Bryan Burk for creator Eric Kripke (Supernatural), Revolution is set 15 years on from a random event that permanently disabled all advanced technology on the planet. But an unlikely group band together with an item that might just be the key to not only finding out what happened all those years ago, but might be the key to reversing the effects. Jon Favreau directs the pilot, I just hope they don’t pull a Terra Nova on us when Revolution debuts on NBC this coming fall.
Showing posts in Here Comes the Fall
Set on and behind the scenes of a cable news show, Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom sees him return to the small screen after a couple of critically-acclaimed releases on film. Jeff Daniels takes the lead alongside an all-star cast that includes Emily Mortimer, Sam Waterson, Alison Pill, Thomas Sadoski, Dev Patel, Olivia Munn and Jane Fonda. The Newsroom premieres this summer on HBO. Maybe they’ll reclaim their past glories after all. Maybe.
Out of all the new shows to premiere this fall, very few have survived longer then Kim Kardashian’s marriage, and even fewer are worth investing time into. Show the rest of this post…
I watched all of them so you don’t have too, even The Playboy Club, which is one hour of my life I will never get back. Here are the top three actually worth giving a shot in amongst a sea of disappointment on TV this year.
New Girl (above)
Being a fan of Zooey Deschanel going into New Girl, I was hoping it would be funny. The show ended up being hilarious and is not one of the few shows I watch on a weekly basis. Even though they replaced the very funny Damon Wayans Jr. Lamorne Morris brings his own spin to the character. The show about Jess (Deschanel) who after breaking up with her boyfriend becomes roommates with three guys she met on the internet (in reality not a good thing to do). The guys one just having broke up with his girlfriend as well, the other just moving back in, and the last that acts douchey at times, but is very funny invite Jess to move in after finding out her best friend is a model. Eventually they all do become good friends with her, but considering her quirkiness and strange sense of humour it takes some patience. The writing and cast are both a perfect fit. This show is by far my favourite new show of 2011. New Girl airs Tuesdays at 9PM EST on FOX.
Franklin & Bash
Now I know this show was not part of the new fall line up, but it did just finish up its first season so it counts. The show follows two lawyer partners Franklin & Bash (hence the title of the show) played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar of Saved By The Bell fame and Breckin Meyer. The show is mostly a comedy but does get serious at times considering what they do. Franklin & Bash aren’t regular lawyers though; they take a unique approach to their cases as well as get away with antics during their trials. Thing such as getting a woman to strip in court to prove that anyone can be distracted or getting drunk in to prove alcohol doesn’t go into your system fast. Their boss played by Malcolm McDowell let’s them get away with their antics because they always get the job done. They receive help from a female ex con and a computer genius who has a fear of just about everything and can’t leave the house. Did I mention they all live in the same house together. The first season just ended but I recommend going back and checking out the season it was only 10 episodes. The writing is phenomenal and it just got picked up for a second season, so you don’t have to worry about it not getting picked up. I’m not sure about dates or times yet but the show is on TNT.
Whitney
Whitney airs Thursdays at 9:30PM EST on NBC, written by and starring Whitney Cummings. To be honest going into this show I wasn’t expecting it to be any good, even though I thought she was funny when she open up for Dane Cook on his stand-up tour. The show surprised me and now I watch it when it’s on or catch it on a rerun. One reason it is funny, is due to the cast of comedians. Whitney’s boyfriend Alex played by Chris D’Elia live together in an apartment. She is very high strung, and he is very laid back and relaxed, and of course comedy ensues.
I really hoped to add a few more shows but if I did I would be lying because these are the only new shows I continue to watch. I hope you will check out at least one of these shows and judge for yourself.
Premiering tomorrow on NBC, The Playboy Club is set in 1960s Chicago for the opening of the first Playboy Club and the lives of it’s Bunny staff and rich and famous clientele. Created by Chad Hodge, Amber Heard stars.
The Steven Spielberg-produced show shares more than a resemblance to his wonderful Jurassic Park (namely it features dinosaurs), when in an attempt to save a dying planet Earth, scientists send a family back in time from the year 2149 to the prehistoric era to join the tenth pilgrimage of settlers in Terra Nova, though the first human colony find themselves in the middle of a carnivorous bloodbath. The show has been hit by numerous delays, and buzz hasn’t been stellar, but largely dependent on the two-hour premiere picking up big ratings from the off, Fox could have a major hit on their hands yet with Terra Nova hitting the small screen on September 26th in the US.
Well we might as well start with the reboot of Charlie’s Angels. Show the rest of this post…
It was only a matter of time before we saw this show once again. The Miami-set reboot stars Minka Kelly, Rachael Taylor and Annie Ilonzeh of this reincarnated crime-fighting trio. The show starts off different than the original series though. Eve (Kelly), a rogue street racer, joins the group after her childhood friend/original Angel Gloria is murdered. The premiere date is Thursday, Sept. 22nd the same day the original show debuted 35 years ago.
HBO is bringing a new comedy to their network called Enlightened. Amy (Laura Dern) is a self-destructive woman who decides to turn her life around by experiencing a spiritual awakening in rehab. Diane Ladd, Luke Wilson and Tim Sharp co-star as Amy’s mom, ex-husband and boss. All of which are less than thrilled with her new sunny, can-do attitude. The show is created by School Of Rock and Dawson’s Creek writer Mike White. HBO very rarely strikes out on their shows so this is definitely one to check out. It premieres Monday, Oct. 10th.
The show H8R on the CW network looks like it has potential. Host Mario Lopez will bring on celebrity guests such as Kim Kardashian, Snooki and many more overexposed celebrities and confront them with civilian haters so they can convince these detractors to see the error of their ways. Truce or not, look for some bruised egos. If Bieber is going to be on the show sign me up as the civilian. The show premieres Wednesday, Sept. 14th.
How to Be a Gentleman is one of CBS’s new comedies. This is the 22st-century Odd Couple. Based on the book of the same name David Hornsby is Andrew, an uptight, sophisticated writer who pens a column for a men’s magazine. When his magazine wants to make its tone younger and edgier, Alan strikes up an unlikely friendship with his old classmate, Bert (Kevin Dillion). An exuberant personal trainer who will show Andrew how to be a manly man. If you are a fan of Dillon on Entourage he is basically playing Johnny Drama so it should make for a funny show.
Ho! Ho! Ho! Tim Allen returns to TV as Mike Baxter, a father of three girls who feels he’s under siege being a man in a woman’s world after his wife, Vanessa (Nancy Travis), successfully rejoins the workforce while he remains at home. Meaning he won’t have his masculine Tool Time to make him feel secure. Last Man Standing premieres on ABC Tuesday, Oct. 11th.
Zooey Deschanel plays Jess, a socially awkward girl who moves in with three bachelors (Max Greenfield, Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr.) on Fox’s new show New Girl. Jess recently broke up with her boyfriend and the guys only put up with her because her best friend is a model (Hannah Simone). But they soon come to appreciate Jess’ quirkiness (Wait Zooey is quirky?) and try to snap her out of her funk. So yes, you will have to try and believe that Zooey Deschanel has trouble attracting men. The show premieres Tuesday, Sept. 20th.
Pan Am is set in the ‘60s, the drama centers on the loves of lives of stewardesses (starring Christina Ricci) of the iconic airline. Although as symbols of sleek, and glamour, their personal lives are far from that. Margot Robbie, Kelli Garner and Karine Vanasse round out the Barbie doll-like crew, who are as adept at coffe service as they are at… well you will find out. Pan Am premieres Sunday, Sept. 25th.
The Playboy Club will be on NBC, but I have a feeling it would do better on a cable network like HBO. I’m not sure how you can have a show about the ‘60s playboy club without some nudity. The series follows a group of Bunnies (including newbie Maureen, played by Amber Heard) and the guys in their lives, like Nick Dalton (Eddie Cibrian), a shady attorney and club key holder who comes to Maureen’s aid after she accidently kills a grabby mobster in self-defense. The show premieres Sunday, Sept. 25th.
Whitney on NBC looks really funny starring Whitney Cummings as a titular character who tries to rekindle the flame with her beau of five years, Alex (Chris D’Elia), after they attend a pal’s wedding. Maulik Pancholy, Zoe Lister-Jones, Ree Seahorn and Dan O’Brien co-star as their friends. This show is already being called the next Friends but I wouldn’t go into expecting that. Whitney premiers Thursday, Sept. 22nd.
The X Factor will finally be making its debut in the United States. The show will reunite Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul in an attempt to steal ratings from American Idol. In my opinion The X Factor should win hands down. Unlike Idol contestants can audition as young as 12 and there is no age limit. The prize money is the largest purse in television history, $5 million. The show premieres Wednesday, Sept. 21st.
Finally a show that is seems people have been talking about for five years now Terra Nova will premiere on Fox Monday, Sept. 26th. The Steve Spielberg-produced dino drama about the Shannon family (led by Jason O’Mara) who travels back to prehistoric Earth to save the human race. “You’re going to see some pretty cool dino-on-man action,” co-executive producer Jose Molina says. “Dino-on-man” sounds like a bad video my friends would send me through e-mail. But besides that the show looks great let’s hope it doesn’t disappoint.
Other shows premiering:
Up All Night – NBC – Wednesday, Sept. 14th (Christina Applegate and Will Arnett)
Unforgettable – CBS – Tuesday, Sept 20th (Poppy Montgomery)
Suburgatory – ABC – Wednesday, Sept. 20th (Jane Levy and Jeremy Sisto)
Ringer – CW – Tuesday, Sept. 13th (Sarah Michelle Gellar)
Free Agents – NBC – Wednesday, Sept. 14th (Hank Azaria and Kathryn Hahn)
Prime Suspect – NBC – Thursday, Sept. 22nd (Bello)
Person of Interest – CBS – Thursday, Sept. 22nd (Michael Emereson and Jim Caviezel)
Once Upon a Time – ABC – Sunday, Oct. 23rd (Jared Gilmore and Jennifer Morrison)
Man Up! – ABC – Tuesday, Oct. 18th (Mather Zickel, Dan Fogler and Chris Moynihan)
I Hate My Teenage Daughter – Fox – Wednesday, Nov. 23rd (Jaime Pressly and Katie Finneran)
Homeland – Showtime – Sunday, Oct. 2nd (Damian Lewis)
Hell on Wheels – AMC – Sunday, Nov. 6th (Anson Mount)
Hart of Dixie – CW – Monday, Sept 26th (Rachel Bilson)
Grimm – NBC – Friday, Oct. 21st (David Giuntoli)
A Gifted Man – CBS – Friday, Sept. 23rd (Jennifer Ehle and Patrick Wilson)
It had been dramas for a while that struggled to really find any friction with an audience, but of late, comedy has been the genre to really struggle on the small screen. Praise be for Community then, one of the few shows able to reference pop culture without sounding “so 2005” and thanks to witty dialogue and a hoard of great actors, keep funny in between. John Goodman guest stars in season three too. We can’t wait. Community returns Thursday, September 22 at 8pm on NBC. Let’s hope there are a new breed of comedies to match it too, previewed here.
The fall premiere that never was, check out the comic book adaptation that Fox decided not to pick up, but still aired at this year’s ComicCon to a fair dose of hype. Pity we’re never going to see any more, it looks promising.
HBO’s Boardwalk Empire will be back for a second season following the awards winning first. Show the rest of this post…
We left off with Nucky’s prodigy Jimmy and Brother Eli possible turning on him and removing Nucky from power. The only problem is will Nucky be distracted by the appearance of his dead — or is she? — Wife? Deadwood actress Molly Parker will be joining the cast as his wife. Also expect more violence and action as Al Capone is turning into the infamous gangster we all know.
Boardwalk Empire returns Sunday 25th September.
Bones is back Thursday 3rd November after Brennan is pregnant with Booth’s child. This season executive producer Stephen Nathan promises to introduce a new long-running villain as well as a new squintern. Everything won’t be rosy for the lead duo because they’re a couple. They still see the world in a different we and need to learn to live with each other.
On the show Castle the titled character finally confessed his love for his partner Beckett. Although it may be a little late as she was shot by a sniper then fell unconscious to end the season. With Beckett’s boyfriend in the picture we can only expect more drama for the upcoming season. Meanwhile, 24’s Penny Johnson Jerald joins the cast as the new Castle-disliking police captain. Castle returns Monday 19th September.
CSI – yes the original Las Vegas one – is back on Wednesday 21st September. Don’t expect it to be the same though as Laurence Fishburne did not renew his contract over the summer and Ted Danson will be replacing him in the lead role. Also it looks like Marg Helgenberger may be leaving as well. They ended last season with Langston killing Nate Haskell and he and his fellow CSIs worked to prove that it was an act of self-defense rather than revenge. We also don’t have to worry about Justin Bieber returning to the show as he was killed off last season (thank you CSI writers). CSI: Miami will be returning Sunday 25th September and CSI: NY returns Friday 23rd September.
The show I look forward to the most every fall is Showtime’s Dexter, possibly the greatest show on television right now. Last season Dexter had to deal with the death of his wife Rita. Julia Stiles joined the cast as Lumen Pierce a woman who was abused and raped by a group of men. In true Dexter fashion he and Lumen sought revenge on the men by strapping them to a table and slicing them up. Dexter’s sister Debra came this close to catching him as he killed the final man. Ultimately Lumen left Miami to try and move on from her painful past. This fall Dexter returns Sunday 2nd October, with three new guest stars Edward James Olmos, Colin Hanks, and Mos Def. One of the most likely putting on an award worthy performance as every guest star seems to do so. From the look of the trailer it looks like another great season.
House returns to Fox on Monday3rd October and after House drove his car through Cuddy’s house after seeing her with another man. The season will jump forward a year with House having spent most of that time in jail. There will be new Odette Annable and Charlene Yi will both join House’s team of diagnosticians in season eight.
NBC’s hit drama Parenthood left off with baby talk with the Braveman clan. Adam found out Cristina was expecting right after he got fired, and Julia and Joel decided to adopt. That did you expect the show is called “Parenthood”. On the upcoming season Crosby, still split from Jasmine, may collaborate with his unemployed brother on a new project. Sarah will face the big 4-0 right when amber moves out. Julia will find a potential baby to adopt closer than she expects: at work. Parenthood returns Tuesday 13th September.
All you favourite crime shows (there are enough of them) will be returning as well. NCIS: Los Angeles returns Tuesday 20th September as well as regular NCIS returning Tuesday 20th September after the team found and killed Jonas Cobb, aka the Port-to-Port Killer. The Mentalist returns Thursday 22nd September to CBS. Law & Order: SVU kicks off Wednesday 21st September as well as Harry’s Law on NBC on the same date. Criminal Minds also returning on September 21st but on CBS. Think we are done for crime shows? Well we still have one last one on Friday 23rd September, CBS’s Blue Bloods returns for their second season.
Other noteworthy return dates:
90210 (CW) – Tuesday 13th September
Desperate Housewives (ABC) – Sunday 25th September
The Good Wife (CBS) – Sunday 25th September
Gossip Girl (CW) – Monday26th September
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) – Thursday 22nd September
Hawaii Five-0 (CBS) Monday 19th September
Nikita (CW) – Friday23rd September
Private Practice (ABC) – Thursday 29th September
Psych (USA) – October
Supernatural (CW) – Friday 23rd September
Boy, oh boy, does this look good. One of our favourite shows of all time (yeah, it’s that good) returns for a third, and hopefully not final, season on Monday, October 10th. In this trailer the boys take in Coney Island, though expect the new episodes to be even funnier, with that whiff of a dark side that keeps you so hooked.