Last New Year's, I made a list of the shows you could look forward to in the early part of the year. While my predictions weren't all that sound (all but one of the new shows I picked—Fox's Lie to Me—has since been cancelled), that's not going to stop me from doing it again this year. What follows is a list of the ten shows, new or returning, I think will be worth your time in the months ahead.
1. Parenthood (NBC, premieres March 1, 9pm)—Originally scheduled to premiere in the fall but delayed due to actress Maura Tierney’s treatment for breast cancer, the series, from Friday Night Lights executive producer Jason Katims, finally finds a slot on the schedule with Gilmore Girls’ Lauren Graham filling in for Tierney. It’ll be interesting to see if Graham can rein in the kinetic style she honed to perfection on Gilmore to play a more subdued character. The show’s going to be saddled with a tough time slot opposite Two and a Half Men/The Big Bang Theory, 24, and Dancing with the Stars, so it’ll likely have to stand on quality over quantity when it comes to viewers tuning in.
2. Life Unexpected (The CW, premieres January 18, 9pm)—There are shades of the kind of show The WB used to do so well in this drama about a girl named Lux (Swingtown’s Britt Robertson) who is fed up with the foster care system and goes looking for her biological parents in order to become an emancipated minor. The judge who hears Lux’s case decides it would be best for her parents (Roswell’s Shiri Appleby and Mad Men’s Kristoffer Polaha) to share joint custody of the teenager, leading the trio to become the family they never allowed themselves the chance to be. That description sounds almost sickeningly sweet, but then so did the loglines for Felicity and Everwood and just look at what wonderful shows they were. If The CW can reclaim even an ounce of that old WB creative magic here, it could pay some serious dividends.
3. Lost (ABC, season premiere February 2, 9pm)—By the end of May, we’ll all know what’s up with that wacky island. Exec producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have their work cut out for them if they’re going to satisfy loyal viewers who have spent the last five years trying to piece together all the clues that have been so delicately doled out. Expect the roar to be positively deafening if they don’t pull it off, but I have complete faith that the ultimate answer will be as thrilling as the entire journey has been.
4. Southland (TNT, premieres January 12, 10pm)—The cable net is going to re-air the seven season one episodes (with added scenes) of this gritty cop drama, which got better each week, plus the six second-season episodes filmed before NBC pulled the plug last fall. Season two promises to focus more on individual characters and have less of an ensemble feel than season one did. If that means more screen time for the wonderful Regina King, so be it. It’s too soon to know whether TNT has intentions of producing new episodes of its own. At the very least we get another chance to see these fine actors in a show that, by all accounts, they have great passion for.
5. Spartacus: Blood and Sand (Starz, premieres January 22, 10pm)—It says a lot when a network is so high on a show that it greenlights a second season before the first one has even started. Such is the case with this swords-and-sandals drama from exec producer Sam Raimi (Legend of the Seeker). Generally I would say this type of show isn’t for me—I seem to be the only person who thought the movie Gladiator was dull and overrated—but how can you deny such an extreme vote of confidence in a television climate that is exceedingly cautious?
6. Undercover Boss (CBS, premieres January 7, approximately 10pm; thereafter Sundays at 9pm)—Never in a million years would I have guessed this would be the show CBS chose to air after the Super Bowl. This is another case of a network being certain that it’s got something good. As the title suggests, corporate executives get a bird’s-eye view of their employees when they work alongside them anonymously. CBS thinks they’ve got the next big reality franchise on their hands; they could just have a variation of Wife Swap. Either way, I know I’m intrigued.
7. Sons of Tucson (Fox, premieres March 14, 9:30pm) —When their real father goes to prison, three young brothers hire a con man (Reaper’s Tyler Labine) to assume his role. Something incredible begins to happen as this decidedly unconventional group of guys gets to know each together: they become a family. The concept straddles the line between hokey and hilarious, and the whole thing will likely hinge on Labine’s performance. This could be the show that finally gives his smarter-than-I-look shtick the spotlight it deserves.
8. Romantically Challenged (ABC, premiere date TBA)—What would you sacrifice to be with Alyssa Milano? That’s the question on the table for Shawn (newcomer Josh Lawson) as he struggles with his feelings for Rebecca (Milano), a woman who has two kids and an ex-husband. I won’t hold the fact that it comes from Family Guy exec producer Ricky Blitt against it, especially when it features the drolly hilarious Kyle Bornheimer, last seen on the unfortunately short-lived Worst Week. Fingers crossed that ABC’s decision to trim the episode order from thirteen to seven is not an indication of the show’s quality, but merely a symptom of the network’s already full midseason slate.
9. Archer (FX, premieres January 14, 10pm)—With It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia bringing in record ratings in its just-completed fifth season and the winning new comedy The League coming back for season two, FX finally seems to have gotten a handle on its problems in the comedy department. They look to add to that success with Archer, an animated spy series that combines the irreverence of Sunny with the twisted sensibility of an Adult Swim cartoon. A preview episode in September got good notices from critics, so expectations are high for this one.
10. Winter Olympics (NBC, February 12-28)—If you’ve watched NBC for even a minute at some point over the last year, you know that the Vancouver Games are coming. Gross promotional efforts should not detract from the fact that the Olympics continue to be one of the world’s great unifying forces. For two weeks every two years, we have a common goal of peace in the interest of sportsmanship. The Olympics go far beyond who wins and who loses; it’s about the experience. And that experience can be just as awesome for the viewer as it for the athlete.
Most of these picks are made on gut feeling alone. I've not actually seen any of the pilots so it's impossible to know for sure whether they'll be good or not. But as a critic, I always hope for the best. And I've no doubt that you, as a viewer, do the same. Happy 2010, everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment