If the wacktastic weather, classes, and people you havent seen in three months dont convince you that its fall, theres one surefire thing that will. Its the kickoff of the new fall tv season. If you havent spent much time in front of the tv being bombarded with ads about what to watch this fall, or if you need a little trigger to help the brainwashing kick in, heres the lowdown on whats on.
So what's good? Coming up in shows that actually sound good are series with interesting premises. The standout is ABCs The Nine, a show about a certain number of people that are held hostage in a bank robbery and whose lives are never the same afterward. Throughout the course of the show, exactly what happened will be slowly revealed in flashbacks (in true Lost fashion, I imagine) while viewers see the characters present-day lives. Its an interesting concept and a show that has a lot of potential to be one of those cant miss it type of television viewing obsessions a la 24. Check it out on Oct. 4 at 10 pm, channel 5.
Another intriguing show in the same vein (and on the same network) is Six Degrees. Created by the same man who help bring Felicity, Alias, and Lost into the world, this show is about the way six different New Yorkers lives intersect in a Crash-esque way. That leaves a lot of room for characters to move around, as well as a variety of storylines that arent the same basic CSI plot every week. If intrigued, stay tuned after Greys Anatomy on Thursday September 21 at 10 pm.
Also getting a lot of positive buzz is NBCs Studio Sixty on the Sunset Strip. Written and produced by Aaron Sorkin, who brought us the early years of The West Wing, this show is about the behind-the-scenes drama of an SNL-type show. It also features the return to television for Matthew Perry, along with other names like Amanda Peet, D. L. Hughley, and another former West Wing-er, Bradley Whitford. Although Im not sure hat I can watch Perry without expecting him to break out in Chandler, Sorkin knows what hes doing. Plus Ive secretly wanted to know what happens on set when the cameras arent rolling. Tune in on Monday Sept. 18, at 10 pm on NBC if you have the same secret burning curiosity.
Something a little out there is CBSs Jericho, which is about a small Kansas town that suddenly sees the mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion off in the distance. The Kansans dont know whether its government testing, terrorists, aliens, whatever – and the mysteries of whats going on and whats going to happen next – make it intriguing. Theres lots of room for this show to move and once the mystery of “who” set off a nuclear device is solved, theres still “why” and “how” and “is this the end?”, plus what happens to people who survive a nuclear blast mentally and physically provides an interesting avenue for this show to explore. Definitely intense, and possible a little too close to real world events, this show nevertheless deserves a look. Wednesday September 20 at 8 pm on channel 4.
As always, there are new shows that will die a quick and painless death. One of the standouts in awesomely bad new tv is Knights of Property, which features a rag-tag group of friends who decide that in order to build up the cash to open a bar, they need to rob Mick Jagger (who is indeed a cast member). Also, Anne Heche will be starring in a show where she moves to Alaska (where the male-to-female ratio is 10:1) in order to understand what goes on in guys brains, titled Men in Trees. Dont stay tuned.
Editor's Pick: Studio Sixty on the Sunset Strip. The creater, the cast, and the concept all come together to make this show one that's likely to be picked up so you can keep watching for years to come.
