Three weeks after this fall season, some shows get cancelled, some shows get picked up or renewed, it's time for me to revise my own schedule.
Shows to Drop:
1. Kidnapped - Yep, NBC cancelled it. I don't know why there aren't lots of people watching, it's got a great cast, a riveting story. Well, my guess is that people may find this self-contained suspence drama hard to follow, we get too used to the format of Lost or Prison Break that we can't appreciate a relatively well-paced drama, that's a shame really. Anyway, goodbye Timothy Hutton, farewell, Jeremy Sisto!
2. Six Degrees - I really like the pilot, it's got a great story going on, and the way the story goes is like floating, and I'm floating with it, I think that can make a good drama. In addition, the story has a very interesting subject: someday someone may come into our life and change it forever. But the second and third episode lost the magica touch, the writer is struggling to combine the 6 stories and connect them, and that's a deal breaker for me. And bye bye J.J. Abrams, I hate Lost, I hate proucers who don't care about the viewers only care about making the show last as many seasons as possible at all costs.
3. Prison Break - It seems that everyone but me likes the show. I consider some of the episode in the first season abysmal. After Michael's stunt discovered by too many inmates, I wasn telling myself:"Oh crap! Another Lost!" And plus, the second season barely keeps the story straight, I just can't take it.
4. Standoff - This is the only promising show on FOX, the only reason I'm dropping this is that I can't put all my time in watching TV. Good luck to you.
5. How I Met Your Mother - Neil Patrick Harris doesn't crack my up anymore, and the writer has actually turned this comedy show into a drama series. Bravo! But that's not what I signed up for!
6. The Class - Sitcom is dead, it really is, even NBC doesn't air sitcoms anymore, only multicamera comedy shows, take a hint CBS! David Crane can't make a comeback, because ten years of Friends is enough, the same style doesn't work anymore, so enjoy your success at home, don't come out and embarrass yourself.
7. The New Adventures of Old Christine - Julia Louis-Dreyfus won an Emmy this year, that didn't help the show, well it did help the ratings but not the writing, all the sparkles in the show disappeared with Julia's acting skills, that's magical, how can an Emmy statue take away so many things in like a month.
8. Grey's Anatomy - I wanted to watch a medical drama, instead I got a sex parade with a riddle at the end: Guess who slept with whom? I'm sorry, I'm really bad at riddles, and since they are not sleeping with me, I'm not interested.
9. Veronica Mars - Currently, I'm shocked at high schools, am I too old, why my high school seemed so normal and Veronica's seemed like a "who's who of the crime history". Kristen Bell is a very talented actress, her performance in Reefer Madness is so memorable that I can't believe she's stuck with Veronica Mars and worried about ratings going down, what an unfaire world!
10. Men in Trees - I tuned in this show because I love Sex and the City, ABC is not HBO, my friend warned me, I just thought how bad could it be. Oh, boy, am I surprised! It's nothing like Sex and the City, but the pilot sure got something interesting going on, so I stayed tuned, I wasted two more hours on this show. What can I say? Waste my time once, shame on you! Waste my time twice, shame on me!
11. Desperate Housewives - I know I'm different, but I feel like that if you watch the season opener and the season finale, you can get the story straight, and the mystery solved, why waste the rest 20 hours?
Well, that's about it. Now let's take a look at what I decided to watch religously this season!
Shows to Watch:
1. Heroes - I'm not a science fiction fan, but strangely I'm hooked on this show. The pilot is OK, it kept me hungry for a second episode. Man, what an episode! Every character is connected with each other in some way, and the story is very well-proportioned, the writer makes sure that nobody left behind, and there's some really interesting and fasinating spin on every character thanks to the producers. Every episode is kind of self-contained and it drives you wanting for more. This is the only hit show this season, I have no reason not to watch!
2. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - The show had me at Aaron Sorkin and the cast. I'm not into politics, but Aaron Sorkin made me watch The West Wing every week! I have no idea can't be so so much and serious at the same time. The West Wing turned my cynical self to a patriotic direction. And I learned a lot from the show, that's what a great TV should be like, both entertaining and educational or informative. Enought with The West Wing? OK, back to Studio 60. As I said, I would tuned in without knowing what this show is about. I checked out the pilot eagerly on the premiere night, Wes said everything I wanted to say, there's no doubt in my mind that TV networks has gone from influential to mindless, Wes's speech relieved the agitated mind of mine so to speak. In the lieu of leading us down the graden path, it's always great when a TV network actually steps up to the plate and do something couragous, and that's what NBC did, my all-time favorite network, I applaud that, and I admire that. Studio 60 is one small fragment of the reflection of NBC, it challenges our mind for something new and provactive, and makes us think, and that is always welcome in my life.
3. House - It's a universal acknowlegement that Hugh Laurie is a terrific actor. How the hell the Emmy went to Kiefer Sutherland I'll never know. The reason I love Dr. House is that aside from his genius diagnostic ability and his sarcastic fasade, he's got a heart warmer than anyone else's.
4. Jericho - Surprisingly enough, I'm hooked on this show, let's just hope that this show won't turn into another Lost.
5. Criminal Minds - Crime dramas should be mindless, Criminal Minds is an exception. It makes you think everything you ever did right or wrong, has you examine yourself psychological condition. But most importantly, you can see how a normal person transforms to a psychopath, and how little things can turn someone's life around.
6. The Biggest Loser - This is the only reality show I'm gonna watch this season. I said before, I'm getting fat, and this show can remind me how bad my weight can be.
7. My Name is Earl - Sitcom is dead, but comedy is not. Earl is funny which is a missing ingredient in today's comedy. I just hope that after Earl's success, more and more comedies will be on the air.
8. Shark - The pilot was not impressive for sure, but it was not bad either, so you went for another episode, the second one was much better, James Woods is a great actor, and the case came up a notch, it was not flat like in other legal drama. And the third episode escaladed again, with great character development and conflict.
9. Brothers & Sisters - A family soap can't easily click with primetime viewers, I don't really know whether Brothers & Sisters has clicked with the audience, but it sure clicked with me. It has an amazing cast, the story is well-set and everyone in the show is three-dimentional, whcih is really hard to do for writers and producers. I have a feeling that this show may not stay long, but I have to tune in evey Sunday with no actual reason for me to do so.
If you read to this point, kudos to you, I don't really know what I'm saying. I just hope that what I just said can bring you closer to me, and provide a little guidance in your show-selecting decision.