Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Premiere Week

Fall TV actually premiered two weeks ago, but the majority of shows are coming back this week. Here's what I'm watching and how I feel about it so far.

Supernatural
I know, Duh. And you know how I feel about it. Though I do have one thing to say: This summer, when I was watching all four seasons over again, I discovered that as much as I loved season 4 while it was airing, and as a whole it's awesomely done, it's not my favorite season. The episodes I get excited about when they come up on the next DVD are all in seasons 2 and 3. And so far, while I still consider "Sympathy for the Devil" possibly the best ep ever, I don't think it will hit that Favorites list.

It's a damned good thing I'm not the one writing the recap at Supernatural Sisters this week. For the first time in four years, The CW is airing a Phillies game and pushing the show to midnight. Which of course means it COULD air at 11, or at 1, so recording it will be tricky. I know this has happened to others, sometimes often, and we've been lucky so far. Doesn't make me feel better. :(

Glee
Still loving it, though the musical numbers always bug me. Even though I dig them, they're so slickly produced and obviously overdubbed, it takes something away from the show overall. I do hate the wife a little less, which is good. In the pilot, she came across as a selfish, conniving, manipulative bitch, which makes you think the hero is stupid for staying with her and not seeing through her. But now she's just a self-centered moron who does seem to love her husband, at least. I still don't like her, but it harms how I feel about him less. My eyebrows went up last week at the implication that Quinn might be shifting from cliché bad-girl cheerleader to someone worthy of Finn.

Vampire Diaries
I liked it much better than I expected to, though I swear Nina Dobrev is a clone of that girl on Roswell and now that they've kissed (not that I didn't want them to), I'm less excited about where it's going. I mean, is Damon just going to tear through Elena's friends? A murder or attempted murder each week? *yawn* The obvious conflict when Elena finds out what Stefan is and why he came to find her isn't something I'm looking forward to, either. But I'm not dropping it yet.

Bones
Ausiello of Entertainment Weekly had a blind item last week about a show with a will-they-or-won't-they couple, and how the network is making the showrunners hold off on bringing them together for two more seasons. Everyone in the comments assumed it was Bones, but he said it's not. Still, after last week's premiere, it's clear they're not paying that off immediately. I didn't really take issue with all the people cautioning him to make sure of his feelings before pursuing them. Most of them were right about Brennan's vulnerability and protection of it. But Sweets, I wanted to slap silly. He's such an idiot! Everyone around Booth and Brennan know they're in love with each other and have been for a long time. I love Sweets, but his idiocy was eye-rolling.

Returning Shows
How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory came back last night, and were okay. Castle was a nice surprise. The writing has gotten better, and the cast chemistry is more natural. The rest of the week brings Dollhouse and Numb3rs and Fringe, though the latter I have to catch up on DVD because I got bored last spring, apparently just as it was getting good.

New Shows
Replacing all my mourned cancellations, I'm adding Modern Family (I got to watch the pilot a couple of months ago and it was great!), The Forgotten (meh, but Christian Slater), and FlashForward, which has things in common with LOST but not the things you think. Well, okay, Penny is probably one of the things you think. :) I started watching LOST because Dominic Monaghan was going to be on it, and that's part of my reason for picking up FF. The rest of the cast seems fabulous, too, though that's not always enough (ref. The Nine and Daybreak). The little bits I've seen also make it look like it will be an intriguing show. Then will come V in November, but geez, why are they waiting so long?

So that's it. Did I miss anything worthwhile?

7 comments:

Cindy Procter-King said...

The only one I'm watching that you mentioned is Glee. I LOVED the premiere last spring, but I'm not as sold on the series now that it's underway. I'll give it a couple more weeks and see how I feel. I LOVE the gym teacher. Perfect actress to play that part.

I don't know why I'm not liking the series as much as I did the premiere. I like the song-and-dance numbers... but something feels a bit out of joint to me.

I'm trying The Good Wife tonight. If I don't get into that, no new shows for me this season. I'll keep with my tried and true, which means...urk, no TV Monday nights. I have NOTHING I'm dying to watch then.

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

That's funny, Monday is one of our full nights! Though I only watch 3 things, J watches two others, and Number Two does Dancing with the Stars.

The Good Wife looks well done, but too much reality to me. I can't face it. :(

Anonymous said...

Hi Natalie,

The only two shows that seem interesting are Modern Family and Flash Foward. I just watched the first 18 minutes of FlashFoward on tv squad and I really liked it. Ausiello was on our local morning show and he liked The Good Wife,Modern Family and FlashFoward. He panned Mercy and some other shows that I can't remember. I'm dvring Fringe until I catch up on the first season. I stopped watching early on and it seems that it got really good after I stopped watching. I'm really enjoying Castle you are right it is getting really good. I like the chemistry between Castle and Beckett. Have a great week.

Rose

MJFredrick said...

I wrote off Bones last year, and you're right, last night's BBT was just okay. I've always loved Castle. I'm trying Good Wife tonight because I love the leads.

I'm on the fence with Glee and Vampire Diaries.

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

Hey, Rose, great to hear from you! Funny how aligned our tastes are. :)

Mary, why'd you give up on Bones last year?

MJFredrick said...

I was already watching a show with a brain tumor causing hallucinations ;)

I was going to say seasons 1 and 4 are my favorites. Interesting.

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

I was already watching a show with a brain tumor causing hallucinations ;)

So you gave up pretty late into the season? It was only really the last couple of episodes that addressed that. He's all better now. The tumor is over. :)

I was going to say seasons 1 and 4 are my favorites. Interesting.

It's funny how we have such similar tastes in what we like, but they're always for different reasons! :)