Monday, November 7, 2011

Checking in on the freshman class

Now that we are well into the Fall season I thought it might be a good idea to check in on how some of the new shows are doing--especially those that have been reviewed here on the blog. Is it just me or has this been quite an impressive new fall tv season? After YEARS of wallowing in lackluster offerings, it seems the networks have started making shows that people actually want to watch again. That's a nice change.

Loving It:

--American Horror Story: there's been a lot of coverage of this show here on the blog, especially with Clovis' most excellent recaps, but it's well deserved IMO. It's nice to have a genuinely scary, genuinely perplexing show on tv again...it seems with the loss of LOST there have been too few WTF moments on network television. American Horror Story fills that gap quite nicely. Also, it's EFFING SCARY.

--Suburgatory: suburban snark never looked so good. And who knew Jeremy Sisto was so funny?

Revenge: delicious, soapy fun. It's twisty and turny and just great. And thank god Madeline Stowe is back...she gives Victor Garber a run for his money in the ability to convey emotion while barely moving her face. That could be the botox though.

New Girl: still the funniest new show of the season.

Enjoyable:

2 Broke Girls: It's still pretty funny, but it's over-reliance on gross sexual humor is starting to get to me. Can we maybe try to get through an episode without a vagina or rape joke, please? But still, cucpakes and mocking hipsters never get old.

Up All Night: Christina Applegate and Will Arnett are great in this show as two former heavy party animals dealing with their new baby...and new lifestyle. The show hasn't quite figured out how to integrate Maya Rudolph's tv talk show diva into the mix, but I am confident they will get there.

Once Upon a Time: three episodes in and I am still liking it. However, I find the fairytale land flashbacks much more compelling than the modern storylines.

Pan Am: There's promise of a great show here, but I'm not sure the writers will get the chance to find it if the ratings continue at their current level. And please, give Collete and Maggie some more awesome storylines, ok? They are the best characters.

The Secret Circle: This one actually occupies a spot between Loving It and Enjoyable as it ramps up The Vampire Diaries aspects of the show--meaning if the plot continues to move along and they continue having high stakes by killing off characters it could really take off for me.

Ringer: This is still better than I expected and hey, it's got Jason Dohring...but come on guys. Let's bump it up a level. A good start would to have more of Bridgette plotting (as she has in recent episodes) rather than just reacting when things go to shit around her.

Dead to Me:

Playboy Club: CANCELLED THANK THE LORD.

Charlie's Angels: DITTO.

Terra Nova: Sorry. Too boring.

Grimm: Remember when I fell asleep in the middle of this? I took that as a sign and haven't made an effort to make up for the lost time.

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