A couple months in, thought it was time to report back on Fall TV prospects.
Best new show remains CBC’s Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays
Although I was also right that nobody is watching it; the ratings are dire. Even though they actually have moved it to Tuesdays, right after the very popular Rick Mercer and 22 Minutes. So I’m not counting on any more seasons, which is unfortunate. But at least CBC has indeed pledged to run all of this season’s episodes.
(By the way, this is no Lost; I don’t think it would be difficult to pick this series up even if you haven’t been watching from the start.)
Cast-drive new shows: Secret Circle and New Girl are in (for now); Ringers is out
One thing I can say about Secret Circle is, they aren’t afraid of casting women. The witches’ circle has four girls and two guys—one of whom (spoiler alert!) died. The adult characters feature quite a few women as well.
The show continues to be nothing more than a teenage witch show; most definitely not developing into Buffy. And sadly, the delicious Gale Harold is playing a “Dad” whose character is unable to get any (so far, only the teenagers get any). But still, it’s engaging enough, for what it is.
… Whereas the second episode of Ringers was so ridiculously awful, we had to drop it. Like, immediately.
But New Girl, we’re sticking with for now. It’s not Big Bang Theory funny yet, but amusing enough.
And I’m pleased that most sexist of the fall outings—Playboy Club and Charlie’s Angels—are already history.
Returning shows: One disappointment; two wins
The Mentalist followed up their completely awesome season finale with the lamest possible season opener: (Spoiler alert) Jayne was purely acquitted of the murder he clearly committed, then concluded that it wasn’t Red John he killed after.
So the finale that seemed to change everything, actually changed nothing. Bah.
But Big Bang Theory picked up nicely where it left off (good that they showed two episodes to start, though, as the first wasn’t quite as strong) and I continue to be really impressed by the mad figure skating skills of the hockey players on Battle of the Blades. Having a woman hockey player in the mix has been a great addition.
Returning shows on the bubble
My recorded episodes of Glee sat unwatched for so long the PVR decided to deleting some itself, along with my request to tape any future ones. (Seriously; it did.) But I did catch a few before they were permanently snatched.
And they actually weren’t terrible. I still don’t think the character of Sue is working, but others seem to have had some reparation, and the dropped characters… Haven’t really been missed. So I may try a few more episodes, PVR willing.
As for Bones, that starts tonight, and is set to record, but I’m still basically dreading it.
Cultureguru's Weblog 
November 4, 2011 at 12:56 pm
Best new show this year is Homeland (which you have to download because it’s on Showtime in the US and some movie pay channel in Canada). Stars Claire (My So-Called Life) Danes as a CIA agent and Damian Lewis (from the short-lived but brilliant Life) as an American POW who may or may not have been turned by his Islamic captors. We’re also really enjoying Person of Interest. That’s pretty much the only new stuff we’re watching. We caught up with Community over the past couple of months (the first and second seasons) and so are now watching the 3rd one in real time. It’s really good if you want another comedy (I’d say even better than BBT) – very meta since almost every episode spoofs either a movie or some aspect of traditional TV programs. That probably doesn’t make much sense, but it will if you start watching it. I’m OK with most of my usual faves, which are pretty much anything crime/forensics-related. Still loving Criminal Minds, really enjoying Ted Danson on CSI, still loving CSI NY, House, Flashpoint, Body of Proof, etc. We don’t watch Rick Mercer anymore – he’s too bland. Still watch 22 Minutes, but neither are anywhere near as funny as the British stuff we download. I’m still watching Being Erica – this was supposed to be the last season, but it might get a 5th. It’s a huge hit internationally – they sold it to over 160 countries and the US and UK are remaking it (because obviously, the Canadian version is too foreign?!). I’m just not sold on the Erica/Adam relationship.
November 4, 2011 at 1:17 pm
I definitely would like to see “Homeland” (I read about it), but as I’ve mentioned before, downloading TV stuff doesn’t work for me. It’s not a moral thing; it’s just that I don’t like watching TV on my uncomfortable desk chair in front of the computer, and we don’t have a good setup for getting the stuff onto the TV. Yes, we can put it on a USB and pop it in the TV, but even that’s too much bother to have to do every week. (TV watching is all about lazy-ness, isn’t it?) Maybe I’ll catch that one on DVD eventually, or whatever. Or someday finish the downstairs renovation, and get the computer and TV talking to each other more directly.
Forensics shows are definitely not my thing (though CSI does have great theme songs :-). I do like Flashpoint, but I don’t consider it to be a forensics show. It almost never grosses me out, so how can it be?
I’m still watching “Being Erica” also, and enjoying it well enough. I agree that the Erica and Adam relationship is not quite working–it’s just too bland to be interesting. I’m not sure these two actors have real chemistry with each other. But nice to hear it’s been such a success internationally.