a) "Prime Suspect"
This show feels like it has a little more to it than the average procedural but I think I like the character more than Maria Bello's performance, so I'm not sure if it's got legs.

b) "Person of Interest"
Michael Emerson getting his own show is probably the one "Lost" alumni development I've been most excited about over the past year or two, but now that it's finally here, I dunno. Pilot was not bad and kind of better than I expected but it's positioning itself as the kind of intriguing show you get obsessed with, not one you sit back passively entertained by.

c) "Revenge"
This just kind of washed over me too much to even work as campy stupid prime time soap opera fun.

d) "The X Factor"
"The Voice" was like oh wow this is everything I like about "Idol" without all the crap I'd gotten sick of. "The X Factor" is all that crap back in an unappetizing new package.

e) "H8R"
Lots of people have talked about how odious the whole concept of this show is but I have to admit that I was curious to actually see it in action, and it was amazing that I picked a night when that Scott guy from "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" showed up trying in vain to prove to someone that he's not a total douche, which was just priceless.

f) "Unforgettable"
A procedural with a goofy gimmick about a woman with perfect memory is not really my thing, but I have to say that I enjoyed the pilot for this, especially because within the first 5 minutes they show her making money counting cards, which is just the kind of thing you'd want a character like that to do but usually wouldn't on a show like this.

g) "The Playboy Club"
This show isn't entirely just dumb, stylish eye candy, but it's not far off. Can't see this having long term appeal but ehh it's OK.

h) "2 Broke Girls"
I love Kat Dennings enough that I will watch every episode of this no matter how bad it is. And it's not bad, really, there were a few genuine laughs in the pilot and I could see it getting better. But there is something undeniably hokey about a lot of it.

i) "New Girl"
I don't really have much affection for Zooey Deschanel so I don't think I'll be able to stomach this very far past the pilot, although it actually was better than I expected, if still pretty obnoxious.

j) "Free Agents"
It was kind of hard to muster any enthusiasm for this ahead of time despite Hank Azaria and the involvement of "Party Down"/"Veronica Mars" writer/producer John Enborn, but so far this has taken a small lead as my favorite new comedy of the season so far. The supporting cast feels very stock and annoying, but there's something I really like about Kathryn Hahn and she has good chemistry with Azaria.

k) "Up All Night"
I appreciate the attempt to do a show about life with a newborn that's kind of adult and not too cutesy, and the cast is pretty strong, but something about this just comes across kind of toothless and wishy washy (aside from the bit cursing about how cute their baby is). Christina Applegate is good but has been better, it's refreshing to see Will Arnett play an everyman and not a douchey villain type who always speaks in a husky whispter, and Maya Rudolph is hilarious as ever but is kind of awkwardly integrated into the family storylines. So it's hard to say if they can turn a great cast on paper into a great show.

l) "I Just Want My Pants Back"
This is a show that I guess is starting next year but MTV played the pilot after the VMAs and it was just amazingly stupid and oversexed even compared to other recent scripted MTV shows like "Awkward." and "Skins."

m) "Necessary Roughness"
This never quite rose above being a light USA trifle, but it's a pretty well written one with a likable cast, so I'm glad it's coming back next year.

n) "Death Valley"
As much as MTV's scripted programming these days is generally awful, and the concept of this show (a "Cops" type show in a world overrun with vampires and werewolves and zombies) is not that brilliant, it is pretty goofy and funny and surprisingly enjoyable, the kind of thing that could've been done better (or at least cooler) on Adult Swim but is still fine here.

o) "Raising Hope"
This show gets by on a lot of charm and whimsy and cast chemistry, but I'm really starting to respect how clever and inventive the writing can be, too. This was brought home during the season premiere, which featured both an oblique "Happy Endings" reference and perhaps the most tasteless 9/11 joke ever snuck onto a primetime sitcom.

p) "Haven"
Jason Priestley has been a surprisingly good addition to the cast of this show!

q) "How I Met Your Mother"
I was pretty appalled to see an episode based around a character having YouTube infamy (in 2011!) in the season opener, and then doubly so that the second episode that ran the same night also had a YouTube subplot. Really, just such a tired storyline. But the show is still funny (my wife laughed at 'Beercules' for about five minutes straight).

r) "Two And A Half Men"
As one of the rare people willing to defend "Two And A Half Men" as a comedy show, and someone who never thought Charlie Sheen was that big a part of why the show worked, I will say I had mixed feeelings about the reboot. But the way they killed off Charlie was pretty perfect, and Ashton Kutcher's introduction in the second half of the episode was not great shakes but felt surprisingly natural in the context of the show.

s) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"
I tuned in a little bit just for the weirdness of Ted Danson replacing Larry Fishburne but this didn't seem like a continuation of the unlikely late Danson renaissance of "Damages" and "Bored To Death." What the hell has even been happening on this show the last few years since I gave up on it?

This entry was posted on Friday, September 23, 2011 at 9:03 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.