Fall TV 2006
August 23, 2006 |
Being the huge TV junkie that I am, I am looking forward to yet another season of quality TV programing. A new season means old favorites brought back for another round of entertainment as well as new shows to try out that hopefully become weekly favorites. Thanks to TV.com’s 2006 Schedule, I will now bore you to tears with what I will be watching this fall and why. Here we go.
Monday’s
9:00 pm
Starting on September 25th I’ll be tuning into NBC’s new Heroes. This show seems to be about ordinary people who somehow obtain super natural powers. In the preview there is a guy who can stop and turn back time and a man who can fly. It’ll be interesting to see where the show goes but one storyline that I have always loved is ordinary people in extraordinary situations — and super heroes. Hopefully this show will deliver the goods.
10:00 pm
After Heroes I’ll be sticking with NBC to try out Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which starts September 18th. This new show features Bradley Whitford from The West Wing, as well as some of the production team, and looks to be witty and fun. Early hype on this one is good so again, hopefully NBC’s West Wing replacement will be a hit.
Tuesday’s
8:00 pm
Although the network is new, CW brings Gilmore Girls back in its usual time slot on September 26th. I’ve mentioned before that yes, I do enjoy the Gilmore Girls. It’s witty and quick and, although it often features women yelling at each other, is very humorous. I’ll be tuning in. After all, I have to find out who Lorili is going to do next…
9:00 pm
This time slot will be my first use of the DVR during the week. Over on FOX, the new show Standoff will be debuting on September 5th. This show pairs Office Space’s Ron Livingston with Anna Espinosa herself, Gina Torres as FBI hostage negotiators. Interesting casting yes, but the show looks like it could be edgy enough to maintain interest while supplementing layered characters to carry over story lines from week to week. While Standoff is running on FOX, CW will bring Veronica Mars back for it’s third season on October 3rd. When I first discovered Kristen Bell Veronica and her friends I was instantly hooked. The second season was recently released on DVD and should start arriving through Blockbuster Online tomorrow. An interview with the show’s creator, Rob Thomas, reveled that VM has only been brought back for an initial 13 episodes this season and that if viewership doesn’t increase, the show might be doomed. Hopefully airing directly after Gilmore Girls will help and Kristen Bell Veronica Mars will get to stick around for a full year.
Wednesday’s
8:00 pm
With last season’s cancellation of Arrested Development, television was left with a serious gap in the comedy genre. NBC looks to try and bring a bit of that back on October 4th with the new 20 Good Years. This new show stars AD’s Jeffrey Tambor and John Lithgow. The premise is simple but looks like it could be highly entertaining. We shall see.
8:30 pm
Looks like I’ll again be sticking with the Peacock to check out the new 30 Rock starting October 11. 30 Rock is the new Tina Fey concoction that brings former SNL cast members together again and looks to be funny. I’m not holding my breath however as such pairings have often crashed and burned in the past.
9:00 pm
One word, LOST. It returns on October 4th for a “mini-season” and then will return again in January for an uninterrupted run ala 24. I can’t wait to find out what The Others wanted with Jack and co. Can’t wait. Period.
10:00 pm
The ten o’clock hour will again put the DVR in use. There are two brand new shows that have caught my interest in preseason commercials. NBC’s Kidnapped, which debuts September 20th, has peeked my attention since I participated in a feasibility test for the show. The show has serious potential, but very well could wind up being another dud much as NBC’s mid season replacement, Heist. The other show premiering in this time slot is ABC’s The Nine. This show focuses on nine people who are all caught up in a bank robbery that turns into a multi-day standoff. The show, utilizing it’s post-LOST time slot, seems to edge toward how the nine people’s lives are all intertwined and connected. This show looks very interesting. My only qualm is that ABC not try too hard to push the LOST crowd into The Nine by making the show too “supernatural” — as was the case with Invasion, which bombed. We’ll see on October 4th when the show debuts.
Thursday’s
8:00 pm
My Name is Earl returns to NBC on September 21st to try and recapture the brilliant idea of the first season. Hopefully it does.
8:30 pm
NBC’s critical and viewer loved The Office also returns on September 21st. This is pretty much the funniest show on television right now. Need an Office fix? Check out the special webisodes on their website.
10:00 pm
ABC is paring some of the creative team that formed LOST and Alias (interested yet?) to bring Six Degrees to life on September 21st. This show follows the six degrees of separation idea and shows how six people in New York City are connected. This could be interesting, but it also could be a little too much like The Nine. Hopefully there will be a significant distinction between the two.
Friday’s
This is a crappy night for TV. Shows airing here are usually doomed to an eminent cancellation. That said, if I’m home and bored — or if I feel like using DVR space, I might tune into Las Vegas during the 9:00 pm slot beginning October 20th — even though the latest seasons were never able to live up to the brilliance that was the first.
Well, there you have it, my list of must-watch-TV (notice I didn’t infringe on NBC’s trademarks). There will be other shows added in as the season progresses as notably Scrubs has yet to have a start date announced. Also, come January, 24 will return to the picture. While there will be some noted additions, there will also be some removals as some of these new shows will no-doubt be cut from the list because they fail to preform. Here’s to hoping it’s none of the ones I get attached to.
I might be addicted to television…
Mike
August 26th, 2006 | 12:26 pm
Good lord man, you ARE addicted to tv…shame on you.