The new fall season is upon us and I've been tuning in to some old favorites and trying out some of the new stuff. A few comments on some of what I've seen.
The EventThis show desperately wants to fill the void for serialized, mystery-driven drama left by "Lost." But the one thing "Lost" had in its favor was that it had interesting characters and while I had my favorites, I was still curious enough to tune in each week to find out more about them. So far, I've not felt any connection to any of the characters on this show. As for the mystery-element, it seems to have borrowed a lot of elements from a lot of other shows--there's a conspiracy story along the lines of "X-Files," there's weird stuff happening along the lines of "Fringe" and there's the everyman caught up in events beyond his control similar to "24." And, so far, it has yet to really engage me in any significant way. I'm not sure telling us that the main hero's fiancee is still alive is the best way to go since it removes that level of mystery.
The first installment ended on a fascinating cliffhanger that really compelled me to want to see episode two. But nothing in episode two left me eager for the third installment. I will still probably tune in and give it another chance or two, but I'm still a bit frustrated by it. I think part of it is that we still have no idea what this "event" is just yet. So far, it's been lots of talking about things in vague pronouns. Even by three episodes in, at least "Heroes" had some idea of where things were headed....oh sure, it fell apart by the end of season one.
No Ordinary FamilyAs a big fan of Michael Chicklis from "The Shield," I was looking forward to this one. I knew it wouldn't be a gritty drama along the lines of that show, but I still found the first episode a lot of fun. The show remembered that people having powers is fun. Watching each family member discover what he or she can do worked well and there's enough of a sense of a bigger picture unfolding that I'll give this one a long-term shot.
LonestarSo, I watched the first episode and was intrigued. And then it tanked in the ratings and I've got episode two on the DVR and wondering--should I bother? It will never be completed and it's likely we'll never see any more episodes. Should I just let the pilot sit as a noble experiment and an hour I enjoyed or should I watch the second installment? I can't quite decide.
TerriersPossibly my favorite new show of the fall. If you haven't seen it, the first three episodes are On Demand from Comcast and worth the time. It's not doing as well as some other FX shows, so please watch. I want more of this one.
ChuckI've heard several critics pointing out that this season is probably the last for "Chuck" and so I've just decided to go for the ride and enjoy it. It's a victory lap for the show and whatever else you can say about Jay Leno in primetime, it at least gave us at least 19 extra episodes of "Chuck." I like how the show has embraced the Chuck and Sarah relationship, how they've put Chuck back into everyone knows, but he is still leading a double life and how the Buy More has been integrated into things this year. Sure there may be better shows on TV, but there are few that are this much fun. I have a feeling this is one that people will discover on DVD and go, "Why didn't I watch it when it was on." You can thank me then...
Labels: Chuck, tv round-up
posted by Michael Hickerson at 10/03/2010 07:49:00 PM |
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