What's On, What's Off and Everything in Between: Part II

What’s Off

CHASE

No TV season would be complete without the traditional and way over rated Jerry Bruckheimer police procedural. Mr. Bruckheimer hasn’t had a TV success story since he brought the CSI team to New York City in 2003 and I don’t think it will be very difficult to chase his latest baby out the door. Chase follows an elite team of US Marshalls as they run around southern Texas fighting bad guys all while baby sitting the original Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald. This show has girl power written all over it as series lead Kelli Giddish kicks some major testosterone in the pilot. With Nikita and the hot chick from Undercovers vying to be this seasons Toughest Chick, I doubt this action packed dud will keep people from flipping the channel to the sandy shores of Hawaii Five-O.

THE DEFENDERS

The original concept for this show was a reality series, think The Apprentice with lawyers. Instead, CBS asked that the show be reformatted into a scripted series about two cocky, male defence attorneys and thus we have The Defenders. Maybe its me but after eight unnecessary seasons of According to Jim are we really ready for more Jim Belushi? Jerry O’Connell has popped up here and there over the past few seasons with forgettable shows like Carpoolers and Do Not Disturb. Remember those? I didn’t think so. I was happy to see that Natalie Zea has found her way onto another fall series, unfortunately she’s latched her star to another a sinking ship. So, will The Defenders be able to fight their way to our season finale and claim the $250,000 prize and a contract with America’s top law firm or will they find themselves facing judgement under the gavel? Find out next time on, The Defenders! That would have worked so much better.

BETTER WITH YOU/RAISING HOPE

ABC had quite the season last year launching a successful comedy block on Wednesday nights where as FOX hasn’t had a sitcom success since Arrested Development (and even that pot of gold couldn’t rein in viewership) in 2003. This year neither ABC nor FOX offers up anything too exciting in the comedy department. With both networks still living off the highs of last years successes Modern Family and Glee, don’t expect too much when Better With You and Raising Hope premiere later this month.
Better With You looked promising when it was unveiled last May at the annual network upfronts. Starring Debra Jo Rupp (That 70’s Show) and Joanna Garcia (Reba, Privileged) this cozy, couples comedy fell short of funny when promo’s began airing last spring. Unfortunately Jennifer Finnigan and Josh Cooke weren’t funny as a couple on NBC’s Committed back in 2005 and they certainly aren’t funny now.
As for Raising Hope, the premise is different (a teenage boy raises his daughter with the help of his trailer park family) but that’s pretty much all this show has going for it other then the occasional laugh from the always funny, Cloris Leachman. Obviously we can’t be blessed with a hit comedy every season, after all, a good laugh is hard to come by, and if its a laughs you're looking for, then these are definitely two shows you are going to want to miss.

To Be Continued...

Good Morning Timmy!

Good morning everyone! Hope you have all recovered from the excitement of Hellcats last night. I must admit that I was up to well past my bedtime which caused me to miss the first two segments of The View this morning. But not to worry, I have my Tim Hortons coffee and I am ready to go for another Fall TV premiere tonight with Nikita on the CW.

The CW is really trying hard to push out its new fall shows ahead of the rest of the big networks, and its probably not a bad idea seeing as how both of the CW newbies are up against some heavy hitters like Criminal Minds, CSI and who could forget The Tired and The Boring.........sorry, I meant Grey's Anatomy.

So the question isn't really about weather audiences will come out for the big premiere but rather, will they stick around once Shemar Moore and Dr. Sleepy find their way back into their living rooms.

Fashion Forward and the CW's Answer to Glee

To tell you I actually tuned in to the premiere of America’s Next Top Model: Cycle 15 would be a lie. Instead I watched as the last of my Big Brother favourites was evicted from the house, preparing me for yet another finale disappointment. Oh well. Luckily any such pain was numbed by the bottle of Jackson Triggs I had delved into in preparation for the WORLD PREMIERE of Hellcats!
Now, this may be the cabernet talking but it was actually better then I expected. There were a couple of promising storylines hidden beneath the cheesy dialogue, Gail O’Grady’s attempt at a Memphis accent and the fact that Lancer University has some seriously questionable co-ed bathing standards. As a whole the series was reminiscent of the early days of One Tree Hill, Peyton look-a-like and all. The cheerleading sequences were good, but not spectacular. Certainly not up to par with anything Rachel Berry could belt out. The beginnings of a tangled love triangle between Vanessa, Red Raymond and President Wayne Palmer are obviously foreshadowed for those of us with a more mature taste. However the twentysomething cast were nothing to brag about especially our uninteresting heroine, Marti Perkins who failed to sizzle as the hot pre-law student turned cheerleader in order to get a scholarship and stay in school in an attempt to beat fate and escape a life plagued with dead fathers and an alcoholic mother who works on campus. Ashley Tisdale’s Savannah was the only character to show any promise with her quick wittiness and questionable motives, she proved to be a clear frontrunner to be the next Summer Roberts or Blair Waldorf.
Yes, at times the show seemed a little too Glee familiar, especially with the “if you don’t place at regional’s, your program is cancelled” speech delivered by Canadian import Aaron Douglas (Yay Canada!) but there are a couple of area‘s the producers deserve a job well done. I am so glad they set the show in college and not some strange seven year high school where teens are played by 27-year-old actors who never age. That will allow for some interesting, more mature storylines that the writers will hopefully not shy away from. The CW has put some serious cash into marketing this show and scheduling it after America’s Next Top Model is a sure sign the network has high hopes for Hellcats. As for me, I’m gonna go finish this bottle of wine and watch Bring It On.

What's ON, What's Off and Everything in Between

What’s On

THE EVENT
It’s been a little over three months since we saw the mysterious adventures conclude for Jack, Kate and Locke…or should I say, Not-Locke on ABC’s Lost. But the wait for the next suspenseful, epic drama is almost over. The Event, which has been one of this falls most talked about new shows, is set to premiere September 20th on NBC and surprisingly, it looks alright. Now I must admit that at first I wasn’t to excited for The Event, comparing it to the lacklustre Lost-esq attempts of the past couple of seasons, The Nine and FlashForward to name a few. Yes it has all the ingredients a show needs to succeed, an original (or better yet, unknown) premise, a talented cast including the likes of Jason Ritter, Laura Innes (the original Dr. House) and the ever so intoxicating, Blair Underwood as the President of the United States. The question is, will that be enough to draw audiences in to what could be a Pandora’s box of questions that are still seasons away from being answered?

MIKE AND MOLLY
So there really wasn’t much to pick from in the comedy department this fall. The task was deciding the lesser of all evils, and that honour went to none other then CBS’s Mike & Molly. Going against the typical, fat husband/skinny pretty wife, formula Mike & Molly shows potential to be a hit for the network. Melissa McCarthy, who has proven herself as the hilarious best friend in The Gilmore Girls and Samantha Who respectively, play’s Molly Flynn, a teacher who meet Chicago cop Mike Biggs (Billy Gardell) at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting and hilarity ensues. Throw in a couple of zany supporting character, a laugh track and BAM you have yourself a traditional style sitcom to join the ranks of its siblings The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men.

LAW & ORDER: LA
On September 13, 1990 NBC debuted its groundbreaking drama, Law & Order. Twenty year and five spin-offs later comes the latest instalment of the Dick Wolf series, Law & Order: LA which takes us to the sunny, steamy west coast where crime and punishment makes the New York criminal justice system feel like a walk on Manhattan Beach. I think the fact that the newest L&O series has been shroud in so much mystery has really added to the hype. With players like Skeet Ulrich, Terrence Howard and Alfred Molina at the helm of a fresh cast, and a Hollywood spin on the typical ripped from the headlines stories ala Dick Wolf, L&O:LA has the potential to give the old school formula a facelift for a whole new generation.

To Be Continued...

The Adam Grech Show: Ready. Set. TIVO!

The Adam Grech Show: Ready. Set. TIVO!: "Well, as I sit here wrapped in my thick, down comforter with my windows wide open, allowing my apartment to fill with the smell of the cris..."

Ready. Set. TIVO!

Well, as I sit here wrapped in my thick, down comforter with my windows wide open, allowing my apartment to fill with the smell of the crisp end of summer air, I can't help but feel sad for the warm weather past. Looking on the bright side however, with the change of the seasons, comes a batch of fresh new recruits to the fall TV landscape! Tonight we officially kick off the 2010/2011 Television Season as the CW breaks out of the gate first with the premiere of its aging signature reality series, America's Next Top Model. It also brings us an updated version of One Tree Hill (with a heaping dose of the Kirsten Dunst gem Bring It On) with Hellcats! Rrrrawwww! Don't get me wrong, I loved Bring It On (Oh Mickey your so fine your so fine you blow my mind Hey Mickey) but as a weekly series? I don't know. Then again, I'm far from the 13-24 year old female demographic they are trying to reach. We'll see if Hellcats manages to leave its mark or if it will live up to its name as a doomed, afterlife of feline proportions. Muhahahahahahahaaaa!